1 



Book ,S 45] 

PRESENTED BY 



4 



A60t 

INDIA: 



ITS 



HISTORY, CLIMATE, PRODUCTIONS, 

AND 

FIELD SPORTS; 

WITH NOTICES OF 

EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS, 

AND OF THE VARIOUS 

TKAVELLING EOUTES. 

BY 

J. H. STOCQUELER, 4-a 

AUTHOR OP THE " ORIENTAL INTERPRETER." 

Wife |IIttrfratio«8. 



EIGHTH THOUSAND. 



LONDON: 
GEORGE ROUTLEDGE AND CO., 

FAMMNGDON STREET. 

1854. 



em 

Benjamin Tuska 
April 25,1931 



London: 

Printed by Stewabt and Murray, 
Old Bailey, 



PEEP ACE. 



In this little volume an attempt has been made to 
condense and concentrate all the mfonnation regard- 
ing the British empire in the East, which is essential 
to the masses. At a moment when the Act of Par- 
liament under which the East India Company have 
governed India is expiring, and a new Act, paving the 
way for the transfer of India to the Crown of Eng- 
land, is passing through the legislature, it behoves 
every Englishman to mate himself acquainted with 
a country of so vast an extent, and so interesting a 
character, upon national grounds alone. The day is 
not remote when India will cease to be a u close 
borough" — patronage must give way to competition, 
and the man of talent aiid energy will find the road 
to preferment as open to him and to his children, as 
it has hitherto exclusively been to the offspring and 
connections of the Directors of the East India Com- 
pany. Very much has been written about India by 



iv 



PREFACE, 



numerous able pens. Her history, government, natu- 
ral productions, commerce, geography, ethnology, — 
her religions, temples, antiquities, scenery, — the man- 
ners and customs of the manifold tribes contained in 
her wide continent and adjacent islands — occupy 
libraries of volumes, from the ponderous folio to the 
thick octavo, but nowhere can access be obtained 
to a compendium of knowledge on these points. In 
an age when the claims upon our time are so nu- 
merous, that very little attention can be bestowed on 
any single subject by ordinary readers, an endeavour 
to present a general epitome of the contents of all 
the works that have been published appears to be 
particularly called for ; and although the author of the 
following rapid sketch cannot expect to have satisfied 
curiosity upon all points, he hopes at least to have 
succeeded in conveying a general notion of " India/* 
and a correct idea of the routes to that country, and 
the expenses of the voyage. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 



INDIA AND HER HISTORY. 

Geographical sketch— The early Hindoo settlers — Alexander's 
invasion — The Mahomedan conquerors — Discovery of the 
route to India round the Cape of Good Hope — The settlement 
of Europeans in India— Dupleix' views of French empire — 
Clive — The progress of conquest — The Mahrattas, Burmah, 
The Punjaub . . . . . . . page 1 



CHAPTER H. 



THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. 

Early Government — Establishment of the Board of Control— 
The East India Direction — The Governmental Divisions of 
India — The Bengal, Madras, and Bombay Presidencies — 
The Native States — The Civil administration — The Army of 
India— -The Indian Navy — Furloughs, Half-pay, Betire- 
ments, &c. • • • • . page 14 



vi 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER in. 



THE EOUTES TO INDIA. 

Sea voyage— The expense— The necessary equipment— Sailing 
ships — Screw steamers— The overland route— The steamers 
of the Peninsular and Oriental Company— The cost and the 
equipment page 32 



CHAPTER IV. 



THE EMIGRANT TO INDIA. 

The European population of India— Its character and extent— . 
Advice to emigrants— Equipment for such persons page 42 



CHAPTER V 



EUROPEAN LIFE IN INDIA. 

European life in India — The kind of houses required— Method 
of furnishing— Domestics- — Articles of life — Markets — House- 
hold expenses — Amusements and resources— Diet — Routine 
of existence — Literature — Life in the Mofussil — The indigo 
planter — Life of a lady in India — Children • page 49 



CHAPTER VI. 

TRAVELLING IN INDIA. 



The first railway — Boat travelling on the Ganges — The banks 
of the Hooghly — Dawk — Marching— The necessary prepara- 
tions and equipment page 72 



CONTENTS. 



m 



CHAPTER VII. 



THE VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS OE INDIA. 

The Banian tree— Ganesha— The Peepul— General belief— The 
Sissoo — The Sygwam— The Talipat, its .uses— The Cocoa- 
nut, invaluable to the native — Traditions of the mango 
grove • P a £ e 90 



- CHAPTER YIIL 

COMMERCE, COINS, WEIGHTS, MEASURES, ETC. 

Articles of export and import— T'ie carrying trade— Exchange 
— Bullion— The system of weights— The Banyan— Docks — 
Commercial Office Establishments — The shipping for a 
twelvemonth . . . . . • • P a S e 99 



CHAPTER IX. 



THE ERUITS OE INDIA. 

The Pine-apple— The Custard-apple— The Mango— The Egg- 
plum— The Pomegranate — The Melon— The Guava— The 
Plantain— The Pumplenose— The Papaya— The Loquat — 
The Jack— The Leechee, &c. . . . • page 109 



CHAPTER X. 



THE CXIMATE OE INDIA. 

General range of the thermometer — Bengal, Madras, and 
Bombay — Bemedies for heat — Diseases of India — Hill 
stations . ... . . • • P^e 



viii 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XL 

THE WILD SPORTS OF INDIA. 

Jackall hunting— Boar hunting— Tiger hunting— The man tiger 
—The Nepaul Terai— Elephant hunting— Bear hunting — 
Deer stalking page 129 



CHAPTER XH. 

RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES, CREEDS, ETC. 

The Brahminical religion — The Doorga Poojah— The Nautch 
— Hindoo music — The Churuk Poojah — Juggernat'h — 
The Suttee— The Mohurrum— The Buckra Eade— The 
Bhearer page 143 



CHAPTER XIII. 

ARCHITECTURE, TEMPLES, MONUMENTAL REMAINS, ETC. 

The cave temples — The river temples — The character of Hindoo 
sculpture — Futtehpore Sikri — Deeg — Secundra — Tomb of 
Hoomaioon — Agra— The Taj Mahal — Lucknow, &c. page 170 



CHAPTER XIV. 

THE CHIEF TOWNS OF INDIA. 

Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay — Delhi— The Great Mogul- 
Agra — Lucknow — Benares — Hyderabad . • page 185 



CHAPTER XV. 

CEYLON. 



Productions — Colombo — Trincomalee — Point de Galle — Kandy 
—Climate — Population . . . . . page 202 



I N D I A. 



CHAPTER I. 

INDIA 3 AND HER HISTORY. 

Geographical sketch— The early Hindoo settlers— Alexander 1 s 
invasion— The Kahomedan conquerors— Discovery of the 
route to India round the Cape of Good Hope— The settlement 
of Europeans in India— Duple ix' views of French empire 
—Olive— The progress of conquest— The Mahrattas, Burmah, 
the Punjaub. 

India ! To the reader of history, and the student of 
human nature, what varied associations present them- 
selves in that single word ! Magnificent enterprises, 
incomparable heroism, unequalled sagacity, incredible 
cruelty, horrible superstition, wonderful perseverance, 
grandeur of conception, multiplied instances of the 
loftiest efforts and the most abject degradation of 
humanity— the meeting at once of the extremities of 
the sublime and the contemptible 5 these, and a 
thousand other objects, strike the mind when the past 
history and *he present condition of British India are 
forced upon consideration. In no part of the world 
are we presented with so striking a proof of the influ- 
ence of moral over brute force, or of the decay of 

B 



2 



INDIA, AND HER HISTORY. 



Paganism in the presence of healthful Christian exer- 
cise. Nowhere else do we behold the simple trader 
rising into the most powerful ruler ; millions of acres 
of waste land and jungle rescued from the marauder 
and the tiger, and converted into fertile lands and the 
abodes of peace and industry ; an agglomeration of 
nations, covering a vast extent of country, acknowledg- 
ing the supremacy of a handful of islanders, whose 
seat of government is five thousand miles away ! 
India is a marvellous problem, a phenomenon which 
puzzles the philosopher, while it charms the philan- 
thropist. To the whole world its position is a mystery 
— to Englishmen a subject of the deepest interest and 
the most lively solicitude. 

The. story of the occupation and mastery of India 
by the English is soon told, and forms an unavoidable 
prelude to the description we propose to give of the 
country generally, and the means of access to its 
shores. But first let us glance at the geography of 
the land of which we intend to treat. 

British India is comprehended in a continent ex- 
tending north to south from Cape Comorin, in lat. 
8° N., and long. 77° E., to the Himalaya chain. On 
the west it is bounded by the Indian Ocean ; on the 
east by the Bay of Bengal. But even s upon the 
western shores of that bay England holds possessions, 
and governs multitudes ; for a considerable portion of 
what was once the Burmese empire now acknowledges 
our sway. The Tenasserim coast, the island of Pulo 
Penang (now called Prince of Wales's Island), Malacca, 
and the island of Singapore, are British settlements. 
The once independent kingdom of Pegu has been 
annexed to the dominions of the British crown, and 
even a nook in China and a point in Borneo are occu- 
pied by us in virtue of treaties. To secure a free pas- 
sage in and out of the Eed Sea, the little town and 
anchorage of Aden, in the straits of Babelmandeb, 



INDIA j AND HER HISTORY. 



3 



have been ceded to us; and possibly at this moment 
the successes of our army in Burmah may be extend- 
ing our possessions to the very capital of Ava. Im- 
mediately south of the peninsula of India is the island 
of Ceylon, which is likewise British territory ; and thus 
upon some part of every state on the shores of the 
eastern hemisphere the English ensign flutters in the 
breeze, and is hailed as the type of civilization and the 
earnest of protection to all within its influence who 
suffer from oppression. 

The early history of India is perhaps more per- 
plexing than that of any other country which boasts 
of an'ancient civilization. Employing no dates, or 
clues to dates, in their temples and monuments, 
perpetuating no rulers but those who owned a 
(fabulous) divine origin, the people have furnished to 
posterity no starting point in the story of their 
origin upon which a rational mind can place the 
smallest reliance. All that is really ascertainable is, 
that two thousand years ago they had a religion " less 
disgraced by idolatrous worship than most of those 
which prevailed in early times." They had a despotic 
government, restricted, however, by law, institutions, 
and religion ; a code of laws, in many respects wise 
and rational, and adapted to a great variety of relations 
which could not have existed excepting in an advanced 
state of social organization. They had "a copious and 
cultivated language, and an extensive and diversified 
literature ; they had made great progress in the mathe- 
matical sciences; they speculated profoundly on the 
mysteries of men and nature; and they had acquired 
remarkable proficiency in m.uiy of the ornamental and 
useful arts of life. In short, whatever defects may be 
justly attributed to their religion, their government, 
their laws, their literature, their sciences, their arts, as 
contrasted with the same proofs of civilization in 
modern Europe, the Hindoos were in all these respects 



4 



I]S T DIA ; AND HER HISTORY". 



quite as civilized as any of the most civilized nations 
of the ancient world; and in as early times as any of 
which records or traditions remain."* 

From the wonderful influence which Brahminism 
has exercised in all times over Hindostan, and the vast 
remains of temples whose antiquity it is impossible to 
determine; the inference drawn by historians and anti- 
quarians is, that the first foreign settlers in India were 
a colony of priests from some of the countries west of 
the Indus; that the whole country was, until their 
advent, one immense jungle; inhabited by a race of 
savages no further removed from wild beasts than are 
the Bosjesmans of Africa. The Brahmins introduced 
a religion; and gradually spreading themselves in a 
southerly direction; founded the kingdom of Oude, 
which; according to their Furanas or sacred books, in 
which all the traditions (miscalled history) of the 
Hindoos are written, was the birthplace of the dy- 
nasties of the sun and moon. Both of these planets, 
thus personified, are said to have issued originally from 
Brahma, or the supreme being, through his sons the 
patriarchs Daksha and Atri. 

It were a waste of time to follow tradition through 
all its absurdities and exaggerations from such a point. 
Let it suffice that the Brahminical religion, aided by 
the persecution of fire and sword, gradually extended 
its influence over the minds of the Mlechas or original 
barbarians of the country, and at length reached the 
most southerly point of the continent, and even the 
island of Ceylon, spreading- civilization; and partially 
converting forests into smiling plains. The people of 
the coasts, acquiring the science of navigation and 
hip-building — how or when, no records show — 
gradually opened a communication by sea with other 
countries \ and discovering within the bosom of their 



* Professor H. H. Wilson. 



INDIA, AISD HER HISTORY. 



5 



own fertile lands various precious metals, with which 
they decorated their persons or manufactured drinking 
and other vessels, soon became objects of attraction to 
their neighbours. Egypt and Assyria were in very 
early times in communication with India ; but it is not 
until Alexander the Macedonian penetrates Persia, 
Afghanistan, and the Punjaub, to the river Hyphasis 
(the modern Beeas), that we obtain any authentic ac- 
count of the country. This was 325 years before Christ. 
Prom that time onwards we lose trace of any connec- 
tion between India and the nations west of the river 
Indus, until we find the Saracens, who had conquered 
Persia, recruiting their forces from among the wild 
tribes of Turks and Tartars— who, like the Goths, 
Vandals and Huns, had always a hankering after the 
south—and then invading India. " After the conver- 
sion of the Affghans to Mahomedanism " says Dr. 
Cooke Taylor, " which took place in less than half a 
century from the first promulgation of that religion, 
frequent incursions were made into the territories of 
the Hindoos; avarice and bigotry combined to stimu- 
late the marauders to cruelty, for they regarded their 
victims as at once the most wealthy and the most obsti- 
nate of idolaters." This was 1,100 years ago, or at 
the beginning of the eighth century since the birth of 
our Lord. The tide of Mahomedan conquest having 
once set in an easterly direction, it continued inces- 
santly ; and although much stout resistance appears to 
have been offered 'to the successive invaders, whether 
AfTghans or Tartars, they seem by the commence- 
ment of the sixteenth century to have established their 
dominion over the whole of the Indian continent, 
governing in the south by deputy, and allowing 
Hindoo sovereigns to retain their possessions only on 
the condition of their paying heavy tribute. 

Although, according to Herodotus, the route round 
the Cape to India had been effected three thousand 



8 



INDIA, AND HER HISTORY. 



seven hundred years ago by the Egyptians, under the 
government of Pharoah Necho II., the produce of India 
only reached Europe during the thirteenth and fourteenth 
centuries of the Christian era through the Persian and 
Arabian gulfs ; for the Venetians and Genoese, even 
if they were aware of any other route than those, care- 
fully kept it a secret from the rest of the world, and 
for a long time enjoyed a monopoly of the trade. But 
the wealth of the Italian republics arising out of this 
monopoly at length awakened the cupidity and jea- 
lousy of other nations, and the observation of travellers 
having led men to reflect on the geographical conse- 
quences resulting from the spherical figure of the earth, 
an idea arose (out of a false calculation of the longitude 
of Asia), that India might be reached by a voyage 
from the coasts of Europe in a westerly direction. 
Columbus first received this impression, and its results 
are well known to the reader. Much about the same 
time John II., the King of Portugal, commanded Bar- 
tholomew Diaz to ascertain whether the coast of 
Africa was, as Ptolemy had previously affirmed, ter- 
minated by land which stretched to the west, or 
whether any opening to the east lay along that coast 
in its southerly direction. The description of Diaz's 
voyage is graphically told in the following passage 
from the u Edinburgh Cabinet Library": — "John 
placed three vessels under the command of Bartholo- 
mew Diaz, whom he strictly enjoined, if possible, to 
pass the southern boundary of the continent ; and this 
officer having arrived at the mouth of the Congo by a 
course now easy and ascertained, began from that 
point his career of discovery. He adopted the odd 
contrivance of carrying with him four negro damsels 
well clothed, and furnished with gold and silver orna- 
ments, toys and spices, whom he landed at different 
points of the coast, that they might spread brilliant 
reports of the wealth and power of the Portuguese. 



INDIA, AND HER HISTORY. ? 

He ffave names, as lie went along- to remarkable bays 
and capes, and at St. Jago, 120 leagues beyond the 
roW erected a pillar of stone to denote at once 
ttmKmof the King and the Cross He passed 
successTvely the Bays of the Landing, of Isles, and of 
Windings ,the last named being given on account of 
the many changes of course which during five days 
the sTnities of the coast, and adverse gales, ob hged 
Mm to make. The weather continuing stormy, drove 
S from the land in a southern direction, where Ins 
K barks seemed scarcely fitted to live amid the 
iiau ocujvo w hich thev were surrounded. 

GSea the Por uguese ielt intensely the cold blasts 
'A^arctic seas. They considered themselves as 
" w ^ Si thirteen Lys, the tempest having 
Sated the'y sought, by steering .^^S 
the land; but they were already beyond the laiine^ 
pe n of Africa, and saw nothing before them except 
?he unbounded ocean. Surprised and bewildered they 
turned towards the north, and at length reached the 
Lst at a point which proved to be beyond tli , Cape 
of Good Hope. Thev called it the ' Bay of Cow,, 
? om Se large herds seen feeding, but which the 
natives immediately drove into the m enor Diaz 
steered onwards till he came to a small island where 
he planted another pillar or ensign of dominion A 
genLl murmur, however, now arose among -tog- 
hausted and dispirited crew. They urged ^that they 
had already discovered enough land for one vo } age, 
having sailed over more sea than had been traversed 
Jy any former expedition ; that their vessel was shat- 
tered and their provisions drawing to a cose; and 
finallv, that the coast having been left running north 
and south, and now found running west and east, there 
must intervene some remarkable cape, the discovery of 
wMch would give lustre to their voyage homeward. 



8 



INDIA, AND HER HISTORY. 



Diaz then called a council of his principal officers, who 
all agreed in the necessity of returning. The com- 
mander yielded, it is said, with deep reluctance, and 
parted from the island where he had planted his last 
ensign as a father parts from an exiled son. The Por- 
tuguese had not sailed far westward when they came in 
view of that mighty promontory which had been vainly 
sought for so many ages, constituting, as it were, the 
boundary between two worlds. The commodore, from 
the storms he had endured in doubling it, named it the 
Cape of Tempests ; but on his return, the king, ani- 
mated by a more sanguine spirit, bestowed the appella- 
tion, which it has ever since retained, of the Cane of 
Good Hope." . * 

The way thus opened to India by the Portuguese 
was soon afterwards tracked by the Dutch, the Eng- 
lish, the Spaniards, and the French. All commenced 
their operations upon the coast of India as simple 
traders who had formed themselves into companies, for 
the double purpose of obtaining the command of a larger 
amount of capital and enjoying the protection of their 
respective sovereigns, who were by no means indiffer- 
ent to enterprises which contributed to augment the 
wealth and enhance the political importance of the 
nations. It was in the year 1600 that Queen Eliza- 
beth granted the first charter to the East India Com- 
pany. From that time until near the middle of the 
eighteenth century we were content to possess factories 
upon the Malabar and Coromandel coasts, and to exist as 
merchants by sufferance. As long as the nabobs and 
rajahs— the viceroys of the Great Mogul or Emperor 
of Delhi, who ruled India— found their account in 
exactions in the shape of duty, they tolerated the 
visitors, and the Europeans bore with the arrogance of 
the delegate governors for the sake of the advantages 
to be reaped from a commerce in cottons and silks, 
drugs and spices, gold dust and elephants' tusks. 



INDIA ; AND HER HISTORY. 



9 



Gradually, as the settlements of the French and Eng- 
lish increased in number, the factors sought permission 
to introduce small detachments of European troops for 
the protection of their property ; and to these they 
added a handful of sepoys, or native soldiers, trained 
and partially costumed after the European manner. 

By the year 1747, one Dupleix, a French command- 
ant, had conceived the idea of establishing an indepen- 
dent empire in India. He was an unscrupulous man, 
of great courage and ambition— one of those who are 
produced every half-century to astound the world by 
their successes, and ultimately to sink into insignifi- 
cance. Conscious of his inability to achieve any great 
objects single-handed, he began by sowing dissensions 
among the nabobs in his neighbourhood. The dis- 
tance at which these viceroys were placed from 
Delhi made them almost irresponsible, and they acted 
more like independent sovereigns than delegates from 
a greater potentate. A vacancy in the viceroyalty, or 
■Nizamut of the Deccan, gave rise to disputes about 
the succession, and led the rival pretenders to take up 
arms. Dupleix immediately offered assistance in the 
shape of French troops and artillery to one of the con- 
tending parties— the other threw himself upon the 
protection of the English, and Major Stringer Law- 
rence, the English commandant, entered heart and 
soul into the contest. From this moment began those 
military operations and political intrigues which even- 
tuated first in the expulsion of the French from India, 
and gradually led to the entire possession of the coun- 
try by the English. 

To Olive— the brave, the enterprising, and sagacious 
—we owe the first foundation of British power in the 
East, and without going into a history, which must be 
read in all its entirety to enable the reader to come to 
just conclusions, we may fairly assume that if every 
part of his conduct was not regulated by the most up- 



10 



INDIA, AND HER HISTORY. 



right principles, and if some part of his successes was 
more owing to good fortune than wisdom (for he was 
strangely eccentric in some respects), it cannot be 
doubted or denied that he was ? from first to last, 
animated by a noble and unexampled patriotism. 

It were impossible, within the limits of this work, 
to trace the gradual growth of the British empire in 
India, the result of the combined action of commerce 
and war, or the rise and progress of the Mahratta 
States, and the destruction of the confederacy formed 
by them against the English. The reader who would 
know how, from simple traders, we have become the 
mighty masters of the most extensive empire that ever 
has existed since the downfall of Roman supremacy, 
must consult the pages of Mill, Orme, Elphinstone, 
Wilson, and Macfarlane, and the thousand and one lesser 
volumes which enter into the details of war and the 
progress of civilization. He would there learn how, in 
their struggles to maintain supremacy, the native 
sovereigns and chieftains leagued against us have suc- 
cumbed to the valour and discipline of small united 
bodies of troops, headed in battle by daring and saga- 
cious officers ; how the infraction of treaties has led to the 
chastisement of Nabobs and Rajahs, and the confisca- 
tion of their territory ; how the insolence and violence of 
theB urmese caused expeditions to be sent to the king- 
dom of Ava, ending in victory and the appropriation of 
the land upon the coasts, and the once independent king- 
dom of Pegu ; how the atrocious irruption of the Sikhs 
into the British dominions was followed by sanguinary 
campaigns, which terminated in the annexation of the 
whole of the Punjaub to the Anglo-Indian possessions ; 
how Scinde, by her treachery, became a British pro- 
vince \ and how, after the sword had done its work, 
the arts of peace and the influence of the Gospel were 
employed to give the newly conquered people assur- 
ance of protection, and promote human enlightenment. 



INDIA, AND HER HISTORY. H 

Opinions vary as to the strict integrity of all the trans- 
actions which have made the East India Company 
masters of India. According- to some writers wanton 
agression, on the part of the English has been the 
herald of spoliation; others, perhaps better informed, 
show that the onus of provocation to war, and the ulti- 
mate appropriation of territory, generally lay with the 
native princes. Perhaps in this, as m other cases, 
truth lies between the two extremes. One thing, at 
least, is certain— whether we have come by our em- 
pire righteously or unrighteously— whether we have 
been forced into possessions we did not covet, or have 
sought quarrels that we might g-am by then- issue - 
the natives at large have essentially benefited by tne 
change of masters. We do not, indeed, erect temples 
to idolatry, nor vast choultries and caravanserais, nor 
huge tombs, nor lofty fortresses; but we have done 
our best, amidst enormous difficulties and obstruc ions, 
to o-ive the people the benefits of education and ol a 
wholesome administration of justice; we have con- 
structed roads and canals, huilt bridges, introduced steam 
navigation, and improved agriculture; we have been 
tolerant of their prejudices and their various forms at 
worship; we have encouraged tne supercession ol 
empirics by educated practitioners m the healing art ; 
we have respected private property alike m our pubuc 
and every-day transactions ; and we have shown them 
the way to wealth and preferment by the steady paths 
which have led Englishmen in all countries to eminence 
and respect. In proof of the effects of our rule, and 
the ready way in which the people, however at one 
time hostile to us and the Christian religion, adapt 
themselves to our government, the following extract 
from one of the principal newspapers published in 
India, describing the condition of our latest conquest, 
the Punjaub, mav be safely offered :— _ 

" Looking at the state of the country politically we 



12 



INDIA ; AND HER HISTORY. 



think there is a remarkable opening for the ministers 
of the Gospel. As perfect peace and good order reign 
in the whole extent of the Punjaub as in any part *of 
England. We see nothing to deter any prudent, 
faithful man, from travelling about in all parts, or 
settling in any one place, and preaching the gospel of 
salvation fully • and, in doing r so, holding up to just 
condemnation all the false systems by which the peoole 
are held bound of Satan. Much more, we think there 
is not only a wholesome fear, but a just respect, for the 
Englishman. The Government of the country has 
clone much to establish this state of things. The go- 
verning board are well known for their high principles, 
and their spirit and example pervade all the officers of 
Government, who seem to have been selected for 
energy, talent, habits of business, and upright charac- 
ter. The rapidity of the improvements in the country 
is really wonderful. A few years have done the work 
of an age in the Punjaub ; and the people, feeling per- 
fect security for life and property, and a strong reliance 
upon the administration of justice, are freed from all 
petty oppression, and, in the full exercise of industrious 
pursuits, are not only contented but happy, and, more- 
over, the general state of European society is good. 
'It does one good' (we refer to a private 'letter) < to 
see so many men of talent and rank all intent on their 
work, and all alive and progressing onward, and spar- 
ing no labour of either body or mind to perform their 
end. Everything here is on the alert. Men are on 
their Arab horses, and off, at a moment's notice, any- 
where, and at a rate that would terrify some in Eng- 
land. Others go out and spend six months at a time 
m tents, and think nothing of either the hot sun by 
day or the cold frosts by night, as they travel along 
administering justice from town to town. They have 
sometimes to leave a station at a week's notice, and, 
selling off all, go to a distant part of the country- 



INDIA; AND HER HISTORY. 



13 



And, if men gladly do all these things as soldiers or 
rulers surely we ought not to be behind in a better 
cause.' They seem here to have their eyes open to 
everything that is going on in the whole county, 
making roads and canals, erecting bridges, settling 
the revenue, building cantonments, planting trees, and 
looking into the minutke of everything. But we want 
more men, for the members of the Government are 
doing all they possibly can to encourage us, and pro- 
bably there are few countries where, such an opening- 
presents itself.' " 



T1IE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA 



CHAPTER II 



THE GOVEKNMENT OF INDIA. 



Early Government— Establishment of the Board of Control — 
The East India Direction — The Governmental Divisions of 
India — The Bengal, Madras, and Bombay Presidencies — The 
Native States— The Civil administration— The Army of India 
—The Indian Navy— Furloughs, Half-pay, Retirements, dbc. 

For a long time after they had obtained territorial 
possessions in India, the East India Company ruled 
without acknowledging- any responsibility to the 
Crown of England. Uncontrolled power, however, 
begat oppression, and the moral sense of England was 
outraged between 1770 and 1780 by the receipt of 
continual representations, that the grossest cruelty and 
injustice were perpetrated by Englishmen. The enor- 
mities charged against the local governors were, of 
course, exaggerated, and it was difficult to arrive at 
the truth when distance interposed an impenetrable 
veil between the actors in the alleged atrocities and 
their judges ; but the immense wealth which some 
Englishmen who had returned from India displayed, and 
the arrogant style of life they adopted, had sufficiently 
excited the jealousy of the aristocracy of this country 



THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. 15 

to induce it to give ready credence to _eyery thing that 
was advanced to the disparagement of Indian nabohs, 
as they were called. Constitutional privilege how- 
ever, exacted that even the misdeeds imputed to the 
English lords of the East, should not he summarily 
dealt with. Official and public inquiry are the neces- 
sary preludes to chastisement. Accordingly, at the 
close of the American war, two committees 01 the 
Houses of Parliament sat on Eastern Attairs. m 
one Edmund Burke took the lead. The other was 
under the presidency of the able and versatile Henry 
S£a£ then Lord-Advocate of Scotland. There was 
as yet no connection hetween the Company and eithe 
o the great parties in the state. The Minister, .had 
no motive to Wend Indian abuses. On the > 
it was for their interest to show, if possible that the 
e-overnment and patronage of our Oriental Empiie 
might, with advantage, be transferred to themsekes. 
The votes, therefore, which, m consequence ot the 
reports made by the two committees, were passed by 
the Commons, breathed the spirit of stern and indig- 

^Pt-SSstime (1784) the government of India was 
placed under a Board of Control, composed of the 
Kino-'s Ministers, who, in that capacity, bore the title 
of Commissioner's for the Affairs of India and from 
that time to the present the system of control lias con- 
tinued. The Home Government thus consists ot an 
East Indian Direction, whose locale is Leadenlial 1- 
ftreet, and the President of the Board of M 
whose place of business is Cannon Row. I he Di- 
rectors enioy nearly the whole of the patronage of 
SSTtaSSe higJr offices and commands are made 
in communication with the Ministry, who likewise 
originate all questions of peace and war, and who 

» Macaulay's « Warren Hastings." 



16 



THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA* 



possess the power of reversing the acts of the East 
India Company and the Governments in India, .and 
also of sending* out instructions on special matters to 
the Governor-General without consulting* the Directors. 

East India Directors are elected by the proprietors - 
of a certain amount of India stock, who seldom trouble 
themselves about the fitness of the candidates for their 
favours. Thus, the London interest often prevails 
over the claims founded on service in India, and we 
continually witness struggles for a seat in the Direc- 
tion, terminating in favour of an opulent merchant or 
banker, a prosperous lawyer, or " eminent brewer." 
The emoluments of the office of Director are by no 
means great ; the influence which the patronage gives 
is therefore justly supposed to be the grand motive for 
•the competition. Once elected, a Director retains his 
power for life, going out of office, however, every four 
years, to be restored in rotation. The duties which 
pertain to the office are slight, excepting in the case of 
the chairman and deputy-chairman, and the select 
committee, who do all the work. The " chairs" com- 
municate with the President of the Board of Con- 
trol. There are several secretaries and under-secreta- 
ries at the East India House, and as these offices are 
only conferred upon functionaries who have long held 
appointments there, it is to be presumed that they are 
required to be well acquainted with usage and prece- 
dent and all the forms of office. 

For the purpose of facilitating the government of 
so vast an empire, India has been divided into three 
presidencies, or distinct local governments, each under 
a Governor and a Council. The Governor is the pre- 
sident of the Council, whence the title of the guber- 
natorial division; but one of these governors is also 
Governor-General of India, and to his supreme au- 
thority- the others owe obedience in respect to all 
matters of general concern. 



THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. 



17 



The three Presidencies are respectively called the 
Bombay, Madras, and Bengal. 

The Bombay Presidency comprehends the whole of 
the teriitority'to the westward from Scinde to the 
vicinity of Goa, north and south, and all that part of 
the country from the Malabar coast to the interior, 
w T hich is known as the Deccan, the Concan, Guzerat, 
and the southern Mahratta country. 

The Madras Presidency embraces the Coromandel 
coast, the country south of the Deccan, to the extreme 
point of the Indian peninsula, and the territory west 
of the Coromandel coast, to the boundary of the 
Bombay presidency. 

The Bengal Presidency comprehends the whole of 
the stations from the entrance of the river Hooghly, 
north of the Bay of Bengal, to the river Indus. The 
Himalayan chain, the kingdom of Nepal, are upon its 
northern and north-eastern limits. West and south it 
extends to the boundaries of the Bombay and Madras 
governments. For purposes of easier local administra- 
tion, the provinces to the north-west are under the 
management of a Lieutenant-Governor; and in like 
manner the affairs of the Punjaub, or country of the 
five rivers, are under the direction of a separate board 
of officers. 

But although the whole of India is thus amenable 
to British sway, it must not be supposed that the 
revenues of the country are monopolized by us. There 
are large tracts entirely under the government of 
native princes, who merely pay kist, or tribute, to the 
English, and others to which, for a slight considera- 
tion, we extend the mantle of protection. To make 
each division and the actual extent of our authority 
more clear and obvious, it will be advisable to show in 
detail how the territory is allotted. 
. The Bengal Presidency is separated into regulation 
and non-regulation divisions : in other words, into pro- 

G 



18 



THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. 



vinces which are governed entirely on our system, and 
subject to our laws and regulations, and provinces 
which, as having* come under our rule since the 
revenue system was established, are managed, in some 
degree, according* to their ancient usage. 

The Bengal regulation districts, or collectorates, as 
they are called, are seven in number — all in the lower 
or eastern part of India: viz., Jessore, Bhaugulpore, 
Cuttack, Moorshedabad, Dacca, Patna, and Chitta- 
s:ong\ These embrace 113,702 square miles, and a 
population of 36,848,981. 

The non-regulation provinces are Saugor and Ner- 
budda, Cis-Sutlej, North-eastern Frontier, Galpara, 
Tenasserim, South-west Frontier, the Punjaub, and the 
Sunderbunds, enclosed in an area of 211,950 square 
miles, and having a population of 11,109,339 per- 
sons. 

The regulation provinces subject to the jurisdiction 
of the Lieut.-Governcr of the North-western Provinces, 
whose head -quarters are at the city of Agra, are 
Delhi, Meerut, Rohilcund, Agra, Allahabad, and Be- 
nares, covering* 71,972 square miles, and containing 
23,200,000 human beings. The non-regulation pro- 
vinces are of small extent. They consist of the Bhat- 
tie territory, Kumaon, A j mere, &c, comprehended in 
13,599 square miles, and having* 600.000 inhabi- 
tants. 

The Madras Presidency is divided for revenue pur- 
poses into twenty-one collectorates, eighteen of which 
are under the regulations of the Madras government ; 
viz., Rajahmundry, Masulipatam, Guntoor, Nellore, 
Chingleput, Madras, Arcot (south and north), Bel- 
lary, Cuddapah, Salem, Coimbatore, Trichinopoly, 
Tanjore, Madura, Tinnevelly, Malabar, and Canara. 
These are regulation districts. The provinces of 
Ganjam, Vizagapatam, and Kurnaul, are non-regu- 
lation, under the control of the agents of the Governor. 



THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. 



19 



All these districts cover 144,889 square miles, and 
contain a population of 16,339,426. 

The Bombay Presidency is divided into thirteen 
collectorates, and three non- regulation provinces. 
The collectorates are Surat, Broach, Ahmedabaa, 
Kaira, Candeish, Tannah, Poonah, Ahmednugg-ur, 
Sholapore, Belgaum, Darwar, RutnagheiTy, and tne 
inland of Bombay. The non-regulation provinces are 
Colaba, Seinde, and Sattara. The whole of these col- 
lectorates and provinces are embraced m an area oi 
120,065 square miles, and the population amounts to 
10,485,000 persons. ' 

The Native states which are immediately controlled 
by the East India Company, because they lie within 
the limits of its political supremacy, without being 
under its direct rule, are as follows : — r 

The Nizam's Territory in the Deccan, whereoi tne 
capital is Hyderabad. 

The Kingdom of Oucle, the capital of which is Luck- 
now. . . 

The Kingdom of Nepaul, the chief town of whicn is 

Khafonandoo. 

The Bqjahship of Berar— capital, Nagpore. 

The Dominions' of Scindia, including Bundlecund,. 
the Saugor and Nerbudda territories, Gwalior, and a 
multitude of small states. 

Indore, the capital of which is Indore. 

The Bliopal States.— The states of Eajpootana.— 
Ramp ore. 

The Hill States— Certain small states contiguous 
to Delhi.— The Cis-Sutlej States— Numerous small 
states on the south-west frontier. — Bhamdpore, on 
the left bank of the Sutlej .—Several petty and hill 
states on the north-eastern frontier.— Cochin. — The 
Guicowars dominions, of which Baroda is the seat of 
Government.— The Chieftainship of Kattiivar.— The 
states of Pahlunpore, Cambay, and Ballasinore, near 



20 



THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. 



the collectorate of Kaira. — Darampore, Baroda, and 
Sucheen, contiguous to the British agency of Surat. — - 
The Daung Rajahs, near the Ahmednuggur collecto- 
rate. — Kolapore. — Sawant Warree. — Myhee Caunta. 
■ — Cutch. Certain Sattarah Jaghiredars, and the Ja- 
ghiredars of the Southern Mahratta country. 

All these quasi independent states cover an area 
of 690,360 square miles, and boast a population of 
52,400,000 persons. They are controlled, advised 
with or watched over, by British political residents, 
agents to the Governor-General, commissioners, poli- 
tical superintendents, or revenue collectors. 

It has been mentioned above that the Government 
of India is entrusted to the Governor-General, two 
Governors, a Lieut, -Governor, and Commissioners* 

The Governor-General is assisted by a Supreme 
Council, consisting of two civil members, one military 
member, and one extraordinary member, who is en- 
trusted with the preparation of acts and laws. The 
Commander-in-Chief of the Army is likewise a member 
of the Council ex officio. 

The Governors of the minor Presidencies, have each 
the assistance of a Council consisting of two civil and 
one military member, the latter being the Commander- 
in-Chief of the Army of the Presidency. 

The whole of the civil administration of the country 
is in the hands of a few hundred gentlemen who, 
having received their education at the college of 
Haileybury, Hertfordshire, obtain their appointments 
from the East India Directors. Their qualifications 
for office amount to an acquaintance with one or more 
of the native languages, a smattering of law and 
moral philosophy, and the ordinary accomplishments 
of gentlemen. In their hands are all the judicial, 
fiscal, and political offices. They commence their 
career on a salary of 300 rupees (80/.) per mensem, 
and rise by gradation, in the course of fifteen or 



THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. 



21 



twenty years, to the receipt of 5,0001. to 10,000Z. per 
annum. The moral responsibility of these functionaries 
is great, and their labours, in some offices, enormous ; 
seeing- that, in many cases, a single civilian exercises 
control over a district 4,000 square miles in extent, 
and inhabited by a mixed population of 50,000 souls. 

In the several towns of Calcutta, Madras, and Bom- 
bay, and in the settlements on the Malayan Peninsula, 
are courts of law, presided over by judges wIig have 
been trained at Westminster Hall, and who administer 
justice on the principles and after the forms of the 
Court of Queen's Bench, Common Pleas, Exchequer, 
and so forth. The practitioners in these courts are 
men who have gone through the ordinary course of 
preparation in the inns of court in London, and the 
suitors enjoy all the advantages attending litigation in 
England, not excluding its expenses and its glorious un- 
certainty. The judges in these Supreme and Recorder's 
Courts receive their appointments from the Board of 
Commissioners for the Affairs of India, and are quite 
independent of the Company's Governors. 

The ecclesiastical establishment in India is upon a 
liberal and a wholesome footing. Each Presidency 
forms a separate diocese; the clergy are stipendiary, 
drawing- their salaries from the^ East India Company. 
On their first appointment they receive 600Z. a year, as 
assistant chaplains, and, as vacancies occur, they rise 
to the rank of senior chaplains, of whom there are 
two or three classes; the highest exercising their func- 
tions at the chief towns, and deriving, in addition to 
salaries of 1,200Z. to 1,500Z. per annum, all the ad- 
vantages accruing from marriage, baptismal, and burial 
fees. 

In addition to the clergy of the Establishment, there 
are ministers of the Presbyterian Church (likewise 
salaried from the revenues of India), Roman Catholic 
bishops and priests, and a great number of Church and 



22 



THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. 



Baptist ministers, whose chief mission is the propa- 
gation of gospel truth, and the conversion of the 
Hindoos. Many of these worthy men have distin- 
guished themselves by their learning, their piety, and 
zeal ; and if their success in the work of prosely tism 
has not kept pace with their exertions, it should be 
remembered that in no part of the world do ignorance 
and superstition do such stout battle for the perpetua- 
tion of idolatry and the rejection of Christianity. 

It has often been maintained that our rule in India 
is onlv upheld by the sword. The allegation is but 
partially true. Compare the extent of the force with 
the gross population, and it at once becomes evident 
that in the moral weight of Great Britain lies the 
grand secret of her dominance. There are 150 milllions 
of natives of India, and the military force employed 
to hold them in subjection, and guard the frontier, 
does not exceed 250,000 effective soldiers. Of what 
avail were one soldier to six hundred determined men. 
Once lose the influence resulting from the impression 
entertained — however erroneous or exaggerated — of 
our truth and sense of justice, and we lose the country 
altos-ether. As the Duke of Wellington well said 
when he was governor of Seringapatam, everything 
should be sacrificed in order to preserve our credit for 
scrupulous good faith. 

The enduring force of this axiom is demonstrated 
in the fact of the numerical strength of the Indian 
Army having never exceeded a quarter of a million, 
and of that comparatively small body all but 20,000 
are natives of the country, who have taken service less 
from the suggestions of a warlike spirit than a con- 
viction that their devotion would be well rewarded ^ m 
the amount and regularity of pay to the effective 
soldier, and the pension to the invalid or wounded 
sepoy. 

Each Presidency has an army, separately com- 



THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. 



23 



mnnded and separately recruited. The organization 
of each is, however, the same. There are European 
troops, forming a part of the royal army of Great 
Britain ; European regiments of infantry, recruited 
expressly for the East India Company ; native regulars, 
and native irregulars. 

The Bengal Army consists of— 

Three brigades of horse artillery, composed of 
Europeans and natives. 

Six battalions of European foot artillery. 

Three battalions of native ditto. 

An engineer corps. 

Eleven regiments of light cavalry. 

Two regiments of European fusiliers. 

Seventy -four regiments of sepoy*. 

Thirty-one irregular regiments, so called because 
they are officered^from the regular army, but have a 
lesser complement of officers, and are differently paid 
and costumed ; a corps of Guides ; eighteen local 
corps, of varied strength, each raised for service in a 
particular district (chiefly in the hills) ; and contingent 
irregular corps in certain native states. 

In addition to this army, are twelve regiments of 
Her Majesty's service, two of which are light 
dragoons, for which the East India Company pay. 

The Bengal Army is commanded by a general officer 
of Her Majesty's service, who is, at the same time, 
Commander-in-Chief in India. - He does not interfere 
in the general control of the armies of the other 
Presidencies ; but, representing the sovereign, to him 
alone is confided the review of the courts-martial held 
on Queen's officers, and the confirmation of the sentence; 
and the promotion and appointment of Queen's officers 
to fill vacancies, pending the receipt of a decision from 
the Horse Guards. In the performance of these duties 
the Commander-in-Chief in India is assisted by a de- 
puty adjutant and a deputy quarter-master general of 



24 



THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. 



Queen's troops, several general officers, each of -whom 
commands a division, and a numerous staff. 

The Madras Army — likewise commanded by a 
lieutenant-general of the royal service — consists of — 

One brigade of horse artillery, composed of four 
European and two native troops. 

Four battalions of European, and one of native, foot 
artillery. 

A corps of engineers. 

Eight regiments of light cavalry. 

A regiment of European fusiliers. 

A regiment of European light infantry,, 

Fifty- two regiments of native infantry. 

In addition to these are five regiments of European 
infantry, and one of light dragoons, or hussars, of the 
royal service. 

Two or three general officers (one of whom belongs 
to the royal army) command the divisions of the army, 
and the staff is selected from the officers of the line. 

The Bombay Army is smaller than either of the 
others, because the territory subject to the Bombay 
government is of much lesser extent. It is composed 

One brigade of horse artillery. 

Two battalions of European foot artillery. 

Two battalions of native ditto. 

A corps of engineers. 

Three regiments of light cavalry. 

One regiment of European fusiliers, 

One regiment of European light infantry. 

Twenty-nine regiments of native infantry, and four- 
teen or fifteen irregular regiments of varied strength 
and composition. 

Three regiments of British infantry, and one of 
hussars, are lent by the Queen, and paid for by the 
Company. 

The annual expense of these combined armies aver- 



THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. 2o 

ages ten millions sterling, arising from the necessarily 
liberal character of the pay and allowances. An 
ensign — the lowest commissioned grade — receives 
from 18Z. to 201 per mensem ; a general officer on 
the staff draws 4 ? Q00Z. per annum ; and the salaries 
of the Commanders-in-Chief range from 8,0007. to 
14-,000Z. per annum. 

All the staff offices, and many appointments which 
elsewhere are filled by civilians, are in India held by 
military men, and the salaries are upon a very generous 
scale. Amongst those appointments which ^ m the 
British army are held by civilians, but which in India 
are open to the ambition*of officers, may be mentioned 
the offices connected with the administration of military 
law, called judge-advocates and deputy judge-advo- 
cates ; the army and the ordnance commissariat ; the 
surveyorships ; the superintendence of the police of the 
interior; the audit department; political residencies and 
assistantships ; educational offices, &c. &c. 

The medical department of the India armies consists 
of surgeons and assistant-surgeons. There are one 
or more of these officers attached to each regiment, 
assisted hy natives, who have been duly educated m 
the healing art ; and the remainder are scattered over 
the country in special charge of hospitals, gaols, col- 
leges, and the civil community of a station, or dis- 
trust. The medical department is controlled by medical 
hoards and superintending surgeons, who are the oldest 
and most experienced persons in the service. These 
latter appointments are well remunerated, and fall to 
the surgeons in virtue of seniority and superior skill. 
Medical officers are permitted to practise their pro- 
fession among persons who are not in the Company s 
service, and this— a very large source of profit-— makes 
an appointment to one of the chief towns of the x resi- 
dencies an object of great ambition. 

The appointments to the India service, both civil 



28 



THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. 



and military, are vested in the members of the Court 
of East India Directors. Each director has a certain 
number of writerships (as nominations to the civil de- 
partment are called), and cadetships, or military com- 
missions. All writers proceed at once to the college 
at Haileybury, and must remain there four terms, 
drinking in such knowledge as is supposed to fit them 
for the offices they are destined to fill. No writer must 
be under seventeen years of age when he enters the 
college, nor more than twenty-three when he quits its' 
walls to proceed to India. Cadets, if intended for the 
artillery or engineers, are required to proceed to Addis- 
combe College. Their stay here is limited to four 
terms, but they may pass through the seminary as 
rapidly as their attainments and qualifications will 
enable them to pass, after a year's residence, provided 
that they are of the age of sixteen before the day of 
their final examination. If they do not, after the four 
terms, get through the examination required for the 
artillery and engineers, they are appointed to the 
cavalry and infantry. Direct, or infantry and cavalry, 
cadetships do not involve the necessity for a residence 
at the college. It is only requisite that the younsr 
men should be examined in history, geography, forti- 
fication, Latin, French (or Hindostanee), mathematics, 
and writing from dictation. If they have received the 
education of gentlemen they are considered fit for 
cadets. 

^Assistant-surgeoncies are in like manner in the gift 
of individual Directors. The candidate must pass an 
examination in surgery by the Royal College of Sur- 
geons, unless he possesses a diploma from the Royal 
College of Surgeons, or the colleges of Dublin, Edin- 
burgh, or Glasgow. He must also pass an examination 
by the East India Company's examining physician in 
the practice of physic. 

The seas of India enjoy protection from a fleet of 



THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. 

British men-of-war, and of steamers and small frigates 
sloops belono-ing to the East India Company. The 

n the fi st instance, by the Directors. They must not 
be vmde - fifteen nor above eighteen years of age, when 
fi s" n out unless they shall have served onboard 
a steam-vessel, or under an engineer in a xactoiy oi 
foxmdn In India they serve either on board the 
Sm-packets which ply between Bombay and Aden 
or r£ schooners and small frigates employed m the 
Pe^n e GaS;Chiua, and the Straits of Malacca ; and 
in the surveys of. the seas and coasts m the Last. Mid- 
shipmen risl to the rank of lieutenants, commanders, 
and capta ns. There is no higher rank in the service 
fhan captain. The Indian navy is commanded, or 
superintended, by a captain of the Br tish navy. 

Serai as is tne scale of remuneration o all classes 
of persons serving the East India Company,! ism 
1 P an° no-ements° made for securing a provxsion to 
those whomay have devoted their years ana energies 
to that Company that the ^f\f.^^^ 
the service is most apparent. It is tme tiiat tne 
oblio-at on of contributing to his own future suppore 
and that of his brethren, their -dows orphans and 
families, is compulsory upon the officer; but it is quite 
certain "that without" the countenance an I generou 
support of the East India Company, none of tne pro- 
visions made for the "rainy day" could hold. 

To improve the health and repair the constitutions 
of those who may suffer from a prolonged residence ,m 
the East furlouo-hs are allowed to ail ranks of the 
Irvice \nd Xring such absence from their duties, a 
certain amount of pay is granted, and the various Civil, 
Military, and Medial Funds contribute 
tionate'to the rank and services of the ,;" d vl S- 
Thus, a civilian on furlough to Europe dra*. 600?. 
a yea-; military officers receive the net pay of then 



28 THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. 

rank, and their respective Funds grant them additions 
varying from 50/. to 150/. per annum, if they stand in 
need of such assistance. Hitherto, military men have 
only been allowed one furlough of three years' duration 
m the course of their service, and this rule was framed 
many years ago, when voyages were of six months' dura- 
tion, and the opportunities of going to and fro very rare 
But efforts are now making to procure an alteration' 
dictated by the modern facilities of effecting a visit to 
England, and the advantage of enabling gentlemen to 
pay more than one visit to Europe in the course of 
thirty years, and there can be little doubt that these 
efforts will be attended with success. 

Upon their ultimate retirement from the Company's 
service civilians, if they have regularly subscribed to 
their Funds, receive annuities of 500/. or 1,000/. per 
annum, according to their length of service. The 
regulations for the retirement of the military and other 
officers are as follow : — 

Officers who have served less than three years in 
India, and have lost their health there, are entitled to 
an allowance from Lord Clive's Fund, if the Court of 
Directors shall adjudge them to be proper objects of 
that bounty, to the extent of— If a second lieutenant 
cornet, or ensign, 2s. a day, or 36/. 10s. a year; if a lieu- 
tenant, 2s. 6d. a day, or 45/. 12 s. 6d. a year; provided 
they are not possessed of, or entitled to, real or per- 
sonal property to the extent of; if an ensign, 750/ 
if a lieutenant, 1,000/. b ' 9 
* Officers who are compelled to quit the service by 
wounds received in action, or by ill-health contracted 
on duty after three years' service in India, are per- 
mitted to retire on the half-pay of their rank ; viz. 

If a second lieutenant, cornet, or ensign, 8s'. a day 
or 54/. per annum 5 if a lieutenant, 4s. a day, or 73/! 
per annum. 

"A subaltern officer, or assistant-surgeon, having 



THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. 



29 



served six years in India, is permitted to retire on the 
half-pay of ensign, if his constitution should be so 
impaired as to prevent the possibility of his continu- 
ing in India. 

a A lieutenant having served thirteen, or a second- 
lieutenant, cornet, or ensign, nine years in India (in- 
eluding three years for a furlough), may retire on the 
half-pay of his rank, in case his health shall not 
permit him to serve in India. 

" Regimental captains, majors, and lieutenant-colo- 
nels, who have not served sufficiently long in India 
to entitle them to retire on full pay, and whose ill- 
health renders it impossible for them to continue to 
serve in India, are allowed to retire from the service 
on the half-pay of their ranks, viz : — 

"Captains, 7s. a day, or 127?. 15s. per annum; 
major, '9s. 6d. a day, or 1731, 7s. 6d, per annum ; 
lieutenant-colonel, Us. a day, or 200Z. 16s. per annum. 

« All officers who have actually served twenty-two 
years in India, or twenty-five years, including three 
years for a furlough, are allowed to retire on the fall 
pay of their respective ranks. 

« Officers are also allowed to retire on the following 
pensions, without reference to the rank they may 
have attained, if they have served to the undermen- 
tioned periods, viz.: — . 

« After twenty-three years' service m India, includ- 
ing three years' for a furlough, on the full pay of 
captain, viz., 191Z. 12s. 6d. per annum ; after twenty- 
seven years' service, including three years for a fur- 
lough/ on the full pay of major, 292L per annum ; 
after thirty-one years' service in India, including 
three years for a furlough, on the full pay of lieu- 
tenant-colonel, 385Z. per annum; after thirty -five 
years' service in India, including three years for a 
furlough, on the full pay of colonel, 456Z. bs. per 
annum. 



30 



THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. 



" Members of the Medical Board, who have been 
in that station not less than two years, and not less 
than twenty years in India, including- three years for 
one furlough," are permitted to retire from the service, 
and allowed 500/. per annum, or in the event of ill- 
health, they may retire on that pension, after any 
period of service* as members of the Medical Board. 
If they have served five years, or are obliged, after 
three years' service in that station, to retire from ill- 
health, they are allowed 700/. per annum. 

" Superintending-surgeons, who have been in that 
station not less than two years, and whose period of 
service has been not less than twenty years, including 
three years for one furlough, are permitted to retire 
from the service and allowed 300/. per annum ; or in 
event of ill-health, they may retire on that pension 
after any period of service as superintending-surgepn. 
If they have served five years, or are obliged, after 
three years' service in that station, to retire from ill- 
health, they are allowed 365/. per annum. Surgeons 
after twenty years' service, three years! furlough in- 
cluded £191 a-year 

24 years' service, 3 years' furlough 250 „ 
28 „ 3 „ 300 „ 

32 „ 3 „ 365 „ 
35 „ 3 „ 500 „ 

33 „ 3 „ 700 „ 

u The present regulations by which superintending- 
surgeons are entitled as such to retiring pensions of 
300/. and 360/. a year, and members of the Medical 
Board to pensions of 500Z. and 700/. a year, accord- 
ing to period of service in those ranks respectively, 
will cease to be the rule of the service for medical 
officers after the date of the introduction of the new 
arrangement ; but individuals then in the service, and 
who may be appointed to the offices of superintending- 
surgeon and member of the Board within ten years 



THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. 



31 



from that date, will be allowed the option of retiring 
upon pensions upon the old scale of length of service 
in those ranks instead of the new scale of length of 
service in India. 

" When officers on furlough retire upon the pay or 
half-pay of their rank, they are only entitled to claim 
the benefits of the rank held by them at the expiration 
of one year from the date of their landing in the 
United Kingdom. 

"A veterinary surgeon is allowed to retire after six 
years' service in India, provided his health shall not 
permit him to serve in India, on 4s. 6d. a clay ; after 
ten years' service in India, provided his health shall 
not permit him to serve in India, 6s. 6d. a day. 

After 20 years' service, 3 years' furlough 

included 7s. a day. 

After 26 years' service, 3 years' furlough 

included „ 

After 30 years' service, 3 years' furlough 

m included » 12s. „ 

"A commissary, or deputy-commissary of Ordnance, 
not being a commissioned officer, is allowed to retire 
on full pay, if he has served twenty-seven years in 
India, of which twelve must have been in the Ord- 
nance department ; twenty-five years, fourteen of which 
in that department; or twenty-two years, seventeen 
years of which in the Ordnance department. 

" A conductor of stores is allowed to retire on 60Z. 
per annum, after twenty-five years' actual service in 
in India. 

" Officers retiring from service are considered to 
have retired from the date of their application for 
leave to retire ; or from the expiration of two years 
and a half from their quitting India, whichever may 
happen first." 



32 



THE ROUTES TO INDIA. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE ROUTES TO INDIA. 

Sea voyage — The expense — The necessary equipment — Sailing 
ships — Screw, steamers — The overland route— The steamers of 
the Peninsular and Oriental Company — The cost and the 
equipment. 

Very little change has taken place during- the past 
thirty years in the voyage to India by sailing vessels. 
The same scale of entertainment, the same cabin 
dimensions, the same degree of speed, which distin- 
guished the magnificent vessels of the East India 
Company, when that Company enjoyed a monopoly of 
the tea trade, now characterize the fleet belonging to 
the great houses of Smith, Green, and Wigram. The 
free traders, which, in the days when the leviathans 
of the Company majestically ploughed the seas, mo- 
destly confined themselves to 700 tons, have now 
swollen to the dimensions of the famous old East 
Indiamen, and the passenger by the Marlborough, 
the Harclwicke, &c, may fancy himself on board the 
Marquis of Camden, the Charles Grant, or the Low- 
ther Castle, with the advantage of not finding in his 
cabin one of the formidable 82-pounders with which 
Captain Dance fought the French squadron. 



ROUTES TO INDIA. 



33 



The charge for a cabin in one of the crack sailing 
vessels is as follows, The average is given— a dif- 
ference being occasionally made to suit particular 
circumstances: — 

For the largest stern-cabins, for a family ol three, 

For the largest stern-cabins, for one person, ibU/. 

For the smaller cabins, for one person, 701 to 100?. 

The outfit necessary for a voyage is by no means 
so great as is alleged by those who make a livelihood 
(if not fortunes), by the excessive supply; but it will be 
difficult for any one who desires ordinary comfort and 
cleanliness to manage with a smaller wardrobe than 
the following. Allowing for the actual possession of 
a fair quantity of linen, cloth coats, waistcoats, and 
trousers, it will still be necessary that a gentleman 
should have — 

Four dozen cotton shirts. 

A dozen and a half India gauze flannel waistcoats. 
Two or three dozen thin cotton socks or stockings. 
Two dozen pairs of calico drawers. 
Three dozen pocket-handkerchiefs ; half-a-dozen 
neck ditto. 

A couple of cotton dressing-gowns, and loose cotton 
trousers to correspond. 

Two or three tunics of brown holland or gray 
alpaca. 

Two or three blue or black silk, jean, or crape 
jackets. 

Three or four dozen pairs of cotton or linen trousers. 

Two dozen white cotton jackets. 

Two or three alpaca, and a dozen white waistcoats. 

In addition to these, the passenger will need a 
clothes-bag, a couch or cot, eight pairs of sheets, 
eight pillow-cases, two blankets and two quilts, two 
dozen towels; a washhand-stand, &c, a chest of 
drawers, a looking-glass, chair (to fold up), a cabin- 

D 



34 



BOUTES TO INDIA. 



lamp, tin can, soap, candles ; writing-case, dressing- 
case, &c. ; one or two large sponges will also be of 
great use. 

Ladies proceeding to India by sea will require, be- 
sides the last-named articles for cabin use, the sub- 
joined equipment : — 

A black silk dress. 

Pour coloured, and four white muslin dresses. ' 

Forty-eight calico or cambric chemises. 

Twenty-four calico night-gowns. 

Twenty-four night-caps. 

Twelve cambric slips. 

Thirty-six petticoats. 

Four flannel petticoats. 

Eighteen India gauze waistcoats. 

Thirty-six pairs of cambric trousers. 

Eight dressing-gowns. 

Six dozen cambric pocket-handkerchiefs. 

Four dozen towels. 

Thirty-six white cotton or thread stockings. 
Twelve kid gloves. 

As there is seldom a library on board ship, a few 
books will be valuable accompaniments, and it will not 
be amiss if the following form part of the stock of a 
person intended for a residence in India : " The Ori- 
ental Interpreter and Treasury of Indian Knowledge/' 
published by Cox and Co., King William-street, 
Strand ; Miss Emma Roberts' " Sketches of Hindos- 
tan;" MacFarlane's " History of British India;" and 
Forbes' "Hindustanee Grammar and Dictionary," sup- 
posing* the passenger is inclined to study the Hindos- 
tanee language. 

The first attempts made thirty years ago to estab- 
lish a communication between England and India 
round the Cape of Good Hope, were failures, in 
respect to an abridgment of the time consumed in a 
voyage. The long intervals between the coaling 



ROUTES TO INDIA. 



35 



stations, and the period consumed in an irregular 
course in order to reach them, neutralized all the 
advantages gained by accelerated movement when 
under steam. Mr. Waghorn, who followed Capt. J. 
H. Johnston in advocating the Cape route, abandoned 
it in 1880, in favour of the Eecl Sea line. But 
within the last three or four years the great difficulty 
has been surmounted through the energy and enterprise 
of the General Screw Steam Shipping Company, and 
coaling depots have been established upon the high- 
way, which render the voyage easy and rapid. 

On the 13th of each month, one of the large screw 
steamers (six of which are of 1,800 tons burthen each), 
leaves Southampton for Calcutta. Calling for mails 
at Plymouth on the 15th, the vessel proceeds to St. 
Vincent (Cape de Verds), tlience to Ascension, the Cape 
of Good Hope, Mauritius, and so up to Point de Galle, 
Ceylon, Madras, and Calcutta, which place is generally 
reached in sixty days from the date of departure from 
Southampton. The accommodation on board these 
vessels is divided into three classes : First-class cabins 
for ladies and families ; secondly, family cabins in the 
fore part of the ship; and, thirdly, general cabins. 
Writers, cadets, and "other young* gentlemen " pro- 
ceeding to Calcutta for the first time, pay 80Z- each 
in a general cabin ; to Madras they pay 751. \ and to 
Ceylon, 70/. Other persons pay as follows : — 

To To To 

Ceylon. Madras. Calcutta. 

One person £81 £82 10 £90 

Do. occupying a double cabin . 101 102 115 

Two persons, occupying a treble cabin 192 205 220 

By " one person' ? is meant an individual who merely 
occupies a berth in a cabin which contains two or 
three other berths. The other charges arise out of the 
entire appropriation of a cabin by one or two persons. 



36 



ROUTES TO INDIA. 



There are cabins, with certain private accommodations 
attached to them, which bear a still higher price. 

The sums paid, as above, comprehend the advant- 
ages of an excellent table, exclusive of wines, beer, and 
spirituous liquors, which are charged for separately— 
a good and equitable arrangement, for very many per- 
sons do not consume either one or the other, or at 
least in a very moderate quantity, and it is hardly 
reasonable to expect them to pay for what they do not 
consume. 

The charges for children above two years of age (all 
below that age without a berth, and with their pa- 
rents, are free) are : — 

To To To 

With the Parents : — Ceylon. Madras. Calcutta. 

5 years and under ]0 ... £40 £42 £45 
2 years and under 5 . . . 27 28 10 36 

Servants— European .... 30 32 36 

„ Native 23 25 28 

Each adult passenger pays a fee of 21. to the steward 
of the vessel, and for each child, a fee of 1Z. is payable. 

Passengers are expected to embark at Southamp- 
ton, shipping their baggage two clear days before the 
time appointed for the departure of the ship. Each 
grown person is allowed thirty cubic feet of baggage ; 
children and servants half that quantity. After the 
shipment of the baggage, nothing is allowed to be 
taken on board but a portmanteau, carpet-bag, and 
hat-box. No trunks, boxes, or portmanteaus, are 
allowed in the cabins. 

The office of the General Screw Steam Shipping 
Company is at No. 2, Koyal Exchange-buildings, City. 
On application to the secretary the fullest particulars 
are obtainable. 

The equipment required by a gentleman or lady 
proceeding by this route will be a medium between 
what has been suggested for a sea voyage and what 



ROUTES TO INDIA. 



37 



is indispensably necessary for a trip overland. The 
time consumed is ten or twelve days more than the 
latter, and twenty to thirty days less than the former. 

There are several ways of reaching India by land 
and sea combined ; but 'for the accomplishment of that 
route which is popularly known as " the overland," 
remarkable facilities have existed during- the past 
twelve years. 

Persons who desire to visit the continent, or wish 
to have as little of the sea voyage as possible, will pro- 
ceed through France to Marseilles, or through Ger- 
many to Trieste on the Adriatic. At either of these 
ports they find vessels which convey them to Alex- 
andria. 

For the conveyance of passengers and packets by 
the first-named route, the Peninsular and Oriental 
Company built and equipped a fleet of superb steamers, 
and it is by one of these a person anxious to make the 
best of his way to India, will undoubtedly proceed. 

The Peninsular and Oriental Company's steamers 
leave Southampton on the 4th and 20th of every 
month, at one o'clock p.m., excepting when the ap- 
pointed day of departure falls upon a Sunday, when 
the sailing of the vessel is postponed to one o'clock 
p.m. on the following day. In five days the steamer 
reaches Gibraltar, the rock famous in modern history 
as the scene of a gallant exploit in the reign of Queen 
Anne (when the place fell into our possession), and a 
noble defence in the reign of George the Third, when 
for between three and four years the wise and brave 
Sir Gilbert Elliott, afterwards Lord Heathfield, held 
out against the combined fleets and arms of Spain and 
France. Twelve hours' delay, while the steamer takes 
in coal, affords an opportunity to the passenger of 
landing, and taking a survey of the town— a curious 
melange of architecture and horticulture — and the 
vessel then proceeds on her course, reaching Malta in 



38 



ROUTES TO INDIA. 



five days more. Here a delay of twenty-four hours 
presents an occasion for a ramble through the prin- 
cipal streets, a visit to the churches and albergas, and 
a short drive beyond the walls of the town. Four 
days after quitting Malta, the steamer arrives at 
Alexandria. Here the passengers are landed with 
their baggage, and embarking in small steamers, at 
once proceed up the Mahmoodie Canal — that cele- 
brated monument of the Pacha Mahomed Ali's en- 
terprise and cruelty — to Atfeh, where they are 
transhipped to other vessels, which bear them up 
the Nile to Cairo. Here a night's rest is obtained, 
while the baggage is carried across the desert to Suez, 
which place the passengers reach by carnages, by the 
evening of the following day. The entire journey 
from Alexandria to Suez thus divided, occupies about 
sixty hours, allowing, besides the night's rest, ample 
time for refreshment and repose at the central station 
or hotel between Cairo and Suez. 

In six days from the time of reaching* Suez, where 
the traveller embarks on a steamer corresponding in 
all respects with the splendid vessel he has quitted at 
Alexandria, he arrives at Aden, a military and coaling 
depot at the south-easterly extremity of the Straits 
of Babelmandeb. Twenty- four hours suffice for the 
reception of coal, and then the Indian Ocean is 
crossed. On the thirty-fourth day from the date of 
departure from Southampton, the island of Ceylon 
is reached. In five days more the steamer gets to 
Madras, and three days later she casts anchor in the 
river Hooghly, opposite the splendid city of Calcutta. 
The whole voyage is thus accomplished in about sixty 
days. 

Supposing a person determines to take the u over- 
land route " to India, he books himself for a passage 
at the office of the Peninsular and Oriental Company, 
No. 122, Leadenhall-street, City. The rates of pas- 



ROUTES TO INDIA. 



39 



sao-e-money are as follow; and, unlike those of the 
General Screw Steam Shipping Company, include 
table, wines, stewards' fees, &c, for first-class passen- 
gsrs The expense of transit through Egypt is also 
comprehended in the scale, with the exception of hotel 
expenses, and of extra baggage, wines, beer, spirits, 
and soda water, all of which the Egyptian transit 
administration charge for separately. 

Calcutta, 
or 

Ceylon. Madras. Penang. Singapore. 

Gentlemen, travelling singly," 
occupying a "berth in a 
Cabin, with two or three 
others on the Lower 
Deck; and 



Ladies, travelling singly, 
occupying a berth in a 
Cabin, with two or three 
others on the Upper Deck J 
Married Couples, occupying "j 
a reserved Cabin on the c 
Main Deck .... 3 

QMUren^mih. their Parents, } 
3 years and under 10 . J 

A Child under 3 years of 

age, free. 
Servants— European . . 

Native . . . 



> £95 £100 £105 £110 



240 



48 



43 
20 



250 



50 



46 

28 



270 



53 



50 
30 



290 



52 
31 



At Aden the passengers intending to proceed fb 
Bombay are transferred to a steamer belonging to tne 
East India Company, and conveyed to Bombay ior 
30Z. a bead. The passage from Southampton to 
Aden in the Peninsular and Oriental Company s 
steamer costs 701. n ^ . , t 

In the steamers of the Peninsular and Oriental 
Company, first-class passengers are allowed three 
hundredweight of personal baggage free of freight. 
Children and servants are allowed 1 ¥ cwt. eacn. 



40 



ROUTES TO INDIA. 



But a person taking* a whole cabin is permitted to 
have one-half more baggage than the regulated allow- 
ance. The Egyptian Transit Company, however, de- 
mand 14s. per cwt. for conveyance of baggage through, 
should it exceed 2 cwt. for first-class passengers, and 
1 cwt. each for servants and children. No package of 
baggage must exceed 80 lbs. weight, or measure more 
than 3 ft. in length — 1 ft. 3 in. in breadth — and 
1 ft. 2 in. in depth. A departure from this regulation 
causes a detention in Egypt to such packages of a 
fortnight. 

As soon as the baggage is embarked it is placed 
below in the baggage room, no passenger being 
allowed to take trunks, boxes, or portmanteaus, in the 
saloon or cabin • but on application to the captain the 
baggage can be had up during the passage. 

It is of importance that every package should bear 
the name of the owner in legible characters, and that 
the passage-money be paid before the passenger at- 
tempt to embark. 

The minimum equipment requisite for the overland 
trip is as follows. Gentlemen and ladies can increase 
this quantity ad libitum, but it should be remembered 
that a portion of the articles with which they may 
supply themselves are not needed in India, and will 
only prove an encumbrance when the voyage is at an 
end. We make no distinction in the supplies required 
by writers and cadets, for it is presumed that all gentle- 
men like to make the same appearance. Discarding*, 
then, the soft persuasions of the wily outfitter, and 
remembering that the cheap and the good are not always 
synonymous, let the intending traveller, when he has 
engaged his passage, hie to Killick, 7, Ludgate Hill, 



with — 

Four dozen cotton shirts • three dozen pairs of cotton 
socks or stockings \ a dozen India gauze flannel waist- 



or Thresher 




Strand, and equip himself 



HOUTES TO INDIA. 



41 



coats; two dozen pairs of calico drawers; three dozen 
silk pocket handkerchiefs ; half a dozen silk cravats, 
black and coloured; two or three pairs of loose printed 
cotton trousers (for bathing purposes) ; a couple of 
cotton dressing gowns; a cashmere or merino jacket; 
a couple of Alpaca (gray) tunics or blouzes ; two or 
three dozen pairs of white trousers ; a dozen cotton or 
jean waistcoats ; a straw hat with broad brim ; a cloth 
cap; a dressing-case; a writing-case (well filled); a 
large bag for foul linen; and a couple of good large 
leather trunks to contain the whole stock. It is con- 
cluded that every one possesses a sufficiency of cloth 
coats, trousers, hats, gloves, boots and shoes. At all 
events a very small supply is requisite, for a few days 
after quitting the shores of England tropical clothing 
is indispensable, and continues so to the end of the 
voyage. No towels or sheets are necessary, for these 
are all provided in the steamer. 

A lady will require for the trip about one-half the 
articles recommended for the sea voyage in a pre- 
vious page. 



42 



THE EMIGRANT. 



CHAPTER IV. 



THE EMIGRANT TO INDIA, 

The European population of India — Its character and extent — 
Advice to emigrants — Equipment for such persons. 

India, though the largest, richest, and most valua- 
ble appendage to the British crown, offers the smallest 
inducement to the general emigrant of any of the 
foreign dominions of the sovereign. The nature of 
the climate effectually closing the door against the 
common labourer, and the low rate of wages for which 
the most ingenious native artisans can afford to work, 
putting competition on the part of the English me- 
chanic quite out of the question, the only classes who 
can expect to make way in India are those who have 
a sufficiency of capital to purchase plantations, or start 
in business on their own account, or are sufficient 
masters of an art of which the natives are ignorant to 
be acceptable as foremen in large establishments. 
These persons, and the various employes of the 
Government, constitute the European population of 
British India — a wonderfully small population com- 
pared with the millions of aborigines, yet a highly 



THE EMIGBANT. 



43 



prosperous and intelligent body, to whose energy and 
moral conduct the ruling country owes, in a great 
measure, the secret of her power. 

To speak more definitely and distinctly, the Euro- 
pean community of British India consists of the civil 
Ld military officers of the East India Company, the 
European t/oops belonging to the royal army, bishops 
and judges, clergymen, barristers and attorneys, mer- 
chant-seamen (captains and mates of ships), merchants, 
shopkeepers, medical practitioners, indigo and sugar 
plantersf missionaries, clerks, artists, musicians,prmter% 
livery-stable keepers, &c; in all some fifty thousand 
individuals, of whom twenty thousand are European 

S ° UntS within the last twenty years it was a high 
crime and misdemeanour for any European to be m 
India without an appointment, or a special license irom 
the Directors of the East India Company. Every 
person who was not in the service of the government 
could only proceed to India with the indentures of a 
« free merchant," or a « free mariner," both of which 
were obtained at the India House with some difficulty, 
under recognizances and securities that the applicant 
was a person of good character, and seriously meant 
either to carry on business as a merchant, or to be- 
come a mate or commander of a country vessel. IN ow 
and then some highly favoured individuals procured 
permission to "reside" in India, but they were always 
watched with jealous anxiety by the Government, lest 
they should employ their privilege to poison the native 
mind, brine- the authorities into disrepute, and set 
society by the ears. When the East India Company 
were 'deprived of their commercial privileges in Ibdd, 
and the act was passed which limited them to terri- 
torial control and the exercise of political mnctions m 
relation to India and the states immediately con- 
tio-uous to the empire, all this jealous exclusion ot 



44 



THE EMIGRANT. 



"interlopers 5 ' came to an end ; and the door was opened 
to the free ingress of persons who chose to make India 
the scene of their exertions. The result has been ad- 
vantageous to the country in the more general diffusion 
of European intelligence; especially as practical and 
legal freedom has been given to the press, and the 
natives have received in a large degree the advantages 
of education ; and something has been done to evolve 
the agricultural resources of India by the application 
of European capital and energy to the cultivation of the 
soil. But, on the whole, the removal of restraints 
upon the resort of Englishmen to India has not been 
attended by all the results contemplated by the ad- 
vocates of the abolition of the trading charter, nor, at 
the same time, have any of the fears of the enemies of 
colonization been realized. A wide field still exists 
for the profitable employment of industry, intelligence, 
and capital, and there can be little doubt that when 
railways have been established, and practicable roads 
formed to facilitate communication with the fertile 
districts of upper and central India, a greater number 
of Europeans will find their way to the country. 

The best advice which, under present circumstances, 
can be given to persons desirous of emigrating to 
India, for the purpose of obtaining an independent 
existence, or of improving their means, is, that they 
should carry with them letters of introduction to men 
in authority, or a sufficiency of capital to obtain shares 
in, if not exclusive possession of, indigo, sugar, 
or coffee plantations, saltpetre manufactories, &c. 
Through the letters of introduction, if sustained by a 
fair share of talent and a good address, a young man 
may obtain employment as a clerk, superintendent, 
deputy collector or magistrate, assistant to a planter, 
sub-editor of a newspaper, reporter, mate or master of 
a river steamer, and so on — offices which yield 
generally from one hundred to five hundred rupees 



THE EMIGRANT. 



45 



per mensem. But these offices are not numerous, are 
competed for by intelligent natives and East Indians, 
and are not recognized, when obtained, as bringing 
the holder within the pale of good society. If a 
young man has had the advantage of a legal educa- 
tion in England, or happens to be connected with any 
of the lawyers who are appointed judges of the several 
Supreme Courts, he may, perhaps, become a clerk to 
one of the " reverend signors," or a sealer, or procure 
leave to practise as an attorney (after due qualifica- 
tion); and there are occasional openings for young 
medical practitioners who are not above contenting 
themselves with such fees as the parsimony of the 
natives may induce them to offer — but all these must 
be regarded as prizes in a lottery, in which the blanks 
are numerous, and every adventurer must be prepared 
to support himself for some time, if he has not hospi- 
table friends and relatives at one of the presidencies, 
who will give him house and home until a situation or 
some sort is available. 

The young man who arrives in India with a small 
capital, and a capacity to be useful, is in a much more 
hopeful condition than he who merely carries with him 
thews, sinews, brains, introductions, and an engag- 
ing deportment. There are always brokers, agents, 
planters, small merchants, auctioneers, newspaper 
proprietors, ship-builders, boat-builders, and trades- 
men enough in every town, disposed to extend their 
sphere of operations by accepting as a partner one 
who can bring a little money and considerable intel- 
ligence and personal activity to the common stock. 
Many a youth proceeding to India, thus prepared, has, 
ere now, risen to a state of affluence in a compara- 
tively short time ; and — for the truth must be told — not 
a few have experienced the vicissitudes incidental to 
commerce and speculation. 

Addressing ourselves to these classes of intending ad* 



46 



THE EMIGRANT. 



venturers to India, we should say, " Content yourselves 
with a moderate equipment ; " arm yourselves with 
patience, which is ever the best attendant upon hope, 
resolve when in India to practise temperance, and the 
chances are greatly in favour of your doing well, and 
of retiring to your native country with an unbroken 
constitution." 

We have spoken of a " moderate equipment." This 
brings us to the details of outfit, and we fear that we 
shall be deemed guilty of heresy in counselling a wide 
departure from the advice generally given on this 
head, especially by those who find their account in 
overloading the passenger. Of course there is a great 
difference in the quantity of articles required for a sea 
voyage, and those needed for an overland trip, be- 
cause the one is twice the duration of the other; but 
in no case is it necessary for a young man to burthen 
himself to the extent recommended by professional 
outfitters. 

The following scale may be confidently offered as 
suited to either route — the sea or overland. 



Overland. 

One dozen pair of cotton stockings. 

Ditto cotton socks. 
Three dozen shirts. 
One dozen of India gauze waistcoats. 

Ditto calico drawers. 
Two dozen silk pocket handkerchiefs. 
Two black silk cravats. 
Two pairs of braces. 
One cotton dressing-gown. 
One pair of pyjamas. 
One clothes bag. 

One straw hat (with veil for crossing the desert.) 



THE EMIGRANT. 



47 



One cloth cap. 

One cashmere or merino jacket. 

Twelve pairs of white cotton trousers. 

Six pairs of Holland trousers. 

Twelve white or printed cotton or jean waistcoats. 

Two Holland or Alpaca blouses. 

A dozen towels. 

A large sponge. 

A leathern writing-case. 

Overland trunks and a carpet-bag. 

N.B.— It is presumed that a hat, a dress coat, 
frock, trousers, boots, shoes, slippers, brushes, necker- 
chiefs, are already in the traveller's possession. 



By Sea. 

Two dozen pairs of cotton stockings. 

One dozen ditto of cotton socks. 

Four dozen day shirts. 

Two dozen night ditto. 

One and a half dozen of gauze waistcoats. 

Three dozen silk pocket handkerchiefs. 

Three black silk cravats. 

Three pairs of braces. 

Two cotton dressing-gowns and a couple of pair of 
pyjanas or loose cotton trousers. 
A straw hat and a cloth cap. 
A couple of Merino or camlet jackets. 
A couple of Alpaca or Holland blouses or tunics. 
Twelve white and twelve coloured waistcoats. 
Eighteen pairs of white cotton or linen trousers. 
One dozen pairs of check cashmerette ditto. 
Three dozen towels. 

One dozen pairs of sheets and pillow-cases, with 
blankets and a quilt. 



43 



THE EMIGRANT. 



A cot or hammock— the former preferable because 
of permanent utility. 

A wash-hand stand and appurtenances. 

A clothes-bag ; piece of carpeting or floor-cloth for 
cabin; a foot-tub; a chest of drawers; a looking- 
glass ; camp chair ; cabin lamp ; tin can ; and a few 
books. 

In respect to coats, waistcoats, and trousers, the 
passenger will suit himself. It should be remembered 
that, for the first ten days of the voyage, and for the 
fortnight during which the vessel is rounding the 
Cape, the weather is sufficiently cold to render woollen 
clothes particularly acceptable. 



EUROPEAN LIFE IN INDIA. 



49 



CHAPTER V. 



EUROPEAN LIFE IN INDIA. 



European life in India— The hind of houses required—Method 
of furnishing —Domestics— Articles of life— Markets -House- 
hold expenses— Amusements and resources— Diet— Routine of 
existence— Literature— Life in the Mofussil — The indigo 
planter— Life of a lady in India— Children. 

How to live, where to live, and what to live upon, 
are questions which agitate all classes of Englishmen 
who are not born with silver spoons in their mouths — 
in other words, who are not horn independent of the 
world's cares. To he able to make both ends meet is 
the anxious consideration of four-fifths of the British, 
population; but those who betake themselves to India 
and the colonies carry their solicitude beyond that 
point— they wish to know not merely if their incomes 
will support them in comfort, but if they will leave a 
margin sufficiently broad to afford a fund for a pro- 
vision in old age. In his native land a man is content 
with a moderate sum ; for to the means of existence 
he adds the inestimable advantage of living in a mild 
climate among friends and relatives he has learned to 
value, and by whom he is esteemed. In India, on the 



50 



EUROPEAN LIFE IN INDIA. 



other hand, lie does battle with a noxious climate, and 
is separated from those he loves best. It therefore 
becomes a consideration whether expatriation is to be 
attended with the advantage of a return to England 
with a competency ; for, otherwise, it would be better 
to remain at home on bread and cheese. In the case 
of persons going out with appointments in the East 
India Company's service, the question, as we have 
shown, is placed beyond a doubt ; for the enforced 
subscriptions to civil and military funds, and the condi- 
tions of the pension establishment, relieve a man of all 
care for the remote future, if he never desires to grow 
rich by his savings. It is far otherwise with the ad- 
venturer who has nothing definite to calculate upon. 
He knows that his only hope of doing well depends 
upon a well regulated economy, and he shapes his 
course accordingly. 

The system of lodging-letting so common in Eng- 
land and the continent is almost unknown in India. 
Something is done in the boarding-house way at the 
chief towns by respectable widows, and each presi- 
dency is provided with respectable hotels and club- 
houses ; but no one seeks or desires a permanent 
residence at any of these places. They afiord ex- 
cellent temporary accommodation to persons newly 
arrived in India, and upon a scale adapted to all sorts 
of purses ; but when the stranger has had time to look 
about him, he quits them for a more frugal and en- 
during style of life. The writer goes to his station, 
the cadet or assistant-surgeon to his regiment, and the 
resident, who is neither civil nor military, seeks a 
house suited to his means, or to the appearance he 
must necessarily keep up. Let him not expect to find 
a furnished house anywhere — such things are un- 
known in India; for when the occupants of mansions 
quit the presidency for the interior they take every- 
thing away with them; and if they return to England 



EUROPEAN LIFE IN INDIA. 



m 



all the property is sold off by auction to ensure the 
means of settling at home. This practice, however, of 
selling* off, causes an enormous quantity of capital 
second-hand furniture to be always available in the 
goclowns or store-houses of the auctioneers ; and if new 
furniture is preferred, there are scores of upholsterers* 
shops where articles can always be obtained at a few 
hours' notice. A stranger, on these occasions, after he 
has looked about for an empty house adapted to his 
wants, sends for a sircar (at Calcutta), a duiash (at 
Madras), or a Parsee butler (at Bombay), and bidding 
him procure the necessary furniture, may expect in 
two or three days to find himself installed in his own 
domicile. The articles absolutely required at first are 
few, as nothing in the shape of fixtures or hangings is 
required. Matting for two or three rooms— say a 
dining-room, drawing-room, and a couple of bed-rooms^ 
—or one bed-room, with bathing and dressing apart- 
ment attached. A cot with gauze curtains, a wash- 
hand-stand, dressing-table, towel-horse, chest of 
drawers,* &c, will suffice for the bed-room ; a table r 
half a dozen chairs, a sofa, and a few book-shelves, will 
suffice for the drawing-room; a table, half a dozen 
chairs, and a small side-board, are furniture enough for 
a dining-room, To these add a punkah, or large fan 
upon an oblong frame, which is suspended from the 
ceiling of each sitting-room with a rope attached to it, 
that a servant may keep it continually swinging when 
the room is occupied. A few plates, dishes, cups and 
saucers, spoons, knives and forks, a table-lamp and a 
hanging-lamp, some water jars, and the commonest 
earthen cooking utensils, will complete the household 
equipment of a bachelor. His purchase of a horse 
and buggy, or a palankeen, or both, will depend upon 

* The articles which have been used on hoard ship are often 
quite good and handsome enough for these purposes. 



52 



EUROPEAN LIFE IN INDIA. 



Lis business, bis inclination, and bis means. One or 
tbe other will be unavoidable, because it is impossible 
for any person to walk to his place of business, or to 
go to the houses and offices of those with whom he 
may have transactions. Pedestrianism, excepting* for 
a leisure stroll early in the morning* and the cool of the 
evening, is impossible. But if a man determines to be 
severely parsimonious, and has not the wherewithal to 
purchase a palankeen, he can hire one every day to 
take him to and from his shop or counting-house, or 
wherever else his business may lead him. A better plan 
still will be, for a tradesman or merchant, to take a 
house which will answer all the purposes of a domicile 
and a place of business. The lower floors of houses 
make capital offices and shops. 

The expense of " life" at one of the Presidencies de- 
pends upon the circumstances and position of the in- 
dividual. A man may live on 200/. a year, or 170 
rupees per mensem ; and he may also spend without 
difficulty 10,000Z. a year. The size of the house, the 
number of servants, horses, and carriages, and the ex- 
tensive exercise of private hospitality and public 
charity, make all the difference. To give an idea of 
the maximum of expenditure, we will suppose an esta- 
blishment at Calcutta upon a grand scale. 

A house of two stories, containing twenty rooms 
and broad verandas, with bathing -rooms and out- 
offices, all enclosed within a garden or compound, costs 
at least 500 rupees per month. The establishment of 
servants will run as follows : — 

A hhansumahy or butler, who markets and attends 
at table on great occasions. He also makes pastry 
and preserves, and superintends the kitchen. 

Two or three kliet?miigars, who also attend at table, 
clean the plate, &c. 

A valet ,of the khetmutgar class, who takes care of the 
linen and clothes of his master, and looks after his toilet. 



EUROPEAN LIFE IN" INDIA. 53 

A cook and a deputy, the latter of whom attends 
the khanswnah at market, and brings home the sup- 
plies. 

A sirdar and bearers— sirdar meaning chief— whose 
duty it is to prepare the bath, polish boots and shoes, 
attend to the lamps and candles, and see that the 
bearers are ready either to pull the punkah, or to go 
out- with the palankeen, or waft away flies and insects 
during the meals, or polish the furniture. 

A musalekee, who acts the part of a scullion, and 
likewise prepares the lamps. 

A hheestie, or water carrier. He draws water from 
the wells or tanks, and fills the jars with the water re- 
quired during the day. He ' sprinkles the cuscuss 
tatties, or plaited grass coverings of the doors and 
windows, during the hot season, and waters the garden 
or grass plots. 

A mihtur, or sweeper, who does all the dirty work of 
the house. 

A cUiohee, or washerman. There are no washer- 
women in Indo-European establishments. The modus 
operandi, amounting to the beating of linen on fiat 
stones, is performed by a man, and his wife irons the 
articles. 

A durzee, or tailor, This functionary is chiefly em- 
ployed in repairing the damages effected by dhobees, 
or m making bed curtains, hemming sheets and table- 
clothes, darning stockings, &c. His work is abun- 
dant where there is a lady and children in the house, 
because the lady rarely condescends to anything useful 
in a large establishment. 

A durwan, or doorkeeper. Pie sits at the entrance 
gate, sounds a gong upon the arrival of a visitor, and 
throws open the portals of the compound. To him also 
is consigned the task of uttering the white lie, which 
announces that the master or mistress of the house is 
" not at home." 



84 



EUROPEAN LIFE IN INDIA. 



An abdar, or " keeper of the water." To him is 
assigned the duty of cooling the wines, beer, and water, 
for dinner purposes ; but the introduction of American 
ice into India has nearly obliterated his functions. 

A coachman, whose title announces his duty. 

Syces, or grooms, one to each horse, or two to three 
horses. They not only groom and feed the horses, 
but either take their places behind a carriage or run by 
its side, or by the side of the equestrian who may be 
paying visits, and require his horse to be occasionally 
heid. 

A peon, or chuprassy. A belted messenger, who 
awaits to carry letters and messages, or to accompany 
the coachman upon state visits. 

An ayah, or lady's maid, a very useful personage in 
a family ; for she relieves the lady of the labour of 
dressing her hair, and is most serviceable in shampoo- 
ing and performing a number of delicate little offices 
which the heat of the climate often renders necessary. 
It is needless to add that she dresses her mistress, and 
looks after her wardrobe, and dhobeds accounts. 

A mihturcmee, or metrannee, a female sweeper, whose 
services are auxiliary to those of the ayah. 

A sircar, who keeps the accounts of the establish- 
ment, receives his master's pay, disburses it, and will 
endeavour to prevent any one from cheating you but 
himself. 

To these domestics are added, dooreahs, or dog boys, 
where people keep dogs ; chowkeydars, or private con- 
stables, who patrol the grounds during the night; 
manjies and dandies, where a boat is kept ; coolies, to 
carry burdens ; and hookah burdars, or preparers of 
the hookah — an office which is gradually becoming ex- 
tinct under the modern passion for cigars. 

We here give the titles which the domestics bear at 
Calcutta. At Madras and Bombay there are the same 
classes, but under different denominations. Thus the 



EUROPEAN LIFE IN INDIA. 



55 



khanswnah is at Bombay a "butler," and at Madras a 
dobash. The khetmutghar is elsewhere called a boy, 
corruption of bhaiee— brother. The bheestie at the other 
Presidencies is denominated a puchauly. The syce 
becomes a gora-wallah (horse-fellow) at Bombay, and 
a qhirm-wallah at Madras. The swear is designated 
a purvoe at Bombay, and the bearers are there called 
hammals, an old Moorish word for " porters." 

As none of these servants eat of the food cooked tor 
Europeans, they are upon a uniform system of wages, 
which, though small as regards each individual, make 
up a tremendous aggregate. Not less than 200 rupees 
per mensem will pay the establishment of a man ot 
laro-e income, blessed with a family ; for several ayahs, 
several peons, several syces and bearers, &c, have to 
be retained. 

The lowest establishment with which a person can 
rub on consists of one khetmutghar or boy, one cook, 
and one musalchee ; whose united wages, at either 
Presidency, will amount to between 16 and 20 rupees 
per month, or 25Z. per annum. The lowest rate at 
which a very small house (unfurnished) may be ob- 
tained is 880 rupees, or 307. per annum ; and that not 
always in a very desirable situation. _ Cotton clothes, 
the general wear, are cheap in India, because the sup- 
ply from England of piece goods is generally much in 
excess of the demand. Woollen clothes, on the other 
hand, are dear, for the tailors demand high prices for 
the manufacture of coats, waistcoats, and trowsers. 
Hats are dear; and boots of English and French 
manufacture are likewise costly. Excellent boots are, 
however, made of country leather by bootmakers on 
the spot, and they cost about half the price of Euro- 
pean boots. 

The style of life in India corresponds, as regards the 
table, with that in vogue at home. The breakfast 
hour is generally from 8 to 9 a.m. Tea or coffee, 



56 



EUROPEAN LIFE IN INDIA. 



bread, butter, rice, fish, eggs or curries, cold meats^ 
jams, honey or marmalade, grace the breakfast table. 
Soups, fish, roast, boiled, stewed, broiled, and curried 
meats, pastry, game, jellies, blancmange, tfec, constitute 
the dinners. The only distinctive feature of the Indian 
table is the superiority and variety of the curries and 
the pilaus. A dish called Mtcliri — a compound of 
rice, split peas, fried onions, chillies, small raisins, and 
curried fowl or mutton — is a favourite breakfast dish. 
Instead of lamb, kid, the flesh of the young goat, is 
much esteemed. It is small, tender, and nutritious, 
and admits of being roasted or cut up into cutlets. 

Meat bears a very low price in India compared with 
what is paid in England, although the markets or 
bazaars (especially of Calcutta) are supplied with beef, 
mutton, and veal, scarcely inferior to the produce of 
our native country. From twopence to threepence 
per pound is usually paid for the best kind of meat. 
Poultry abounds in India. Turkeys are expensive, 
ranging from 7 to 10 rupees each. Geese, ducks, 
fowls, and pigeons, are always obtainable, and at very 
moderate prices. The game obtainable at the Presi- 
dencies amounts to partridge, teal, snipe, wild cluck, 
and occasionally venison ; but it is never good for 
much. If eaten soon after it is killed, it is tough and 
tasteless ; if kept till it becomes tender, it is often un- 
eatable. 

The vegetable and fruit market is sufficiently stocked 
to merit a separate chapter. Bread, composed of good 
wheat flour, is very cheap ; rice, ditto. Milk of a thin 
quality abounds ; but everybody desirous of being well 
supplied in this respect will keep his own cow. Home- 
made butter is preferable to that which is purchased. 

For all the extras and luxuries of the table, the 
Indian resident is, in a great measure, indebted to 
England, France, and America. York and West- 
phalia hams, rein-deer tongues, cheeses of all kinds, 



EUROPEAN LIFE IN INDIA. 57 

hermetically sealed vegetables and fish, anchovies and 
sardines potted meats, German sausages, pickles, pre- 
se S frmts-all the stock to be found at Fortnum 
and Mason's-may be purchased at the << Europe 
shops" in India. Still, a good supply of delicacies is 
of indigenous manufacture. The mango and lime 
picldes,° guava and other jellies, dried fish buffalo 
humps chetney sauce, and similar condiments, aie al- 
ways obtainable; and from China are received large 
stores of ginger and other preserves, teas, sugar- 

Ca T d o y Etr C ope also the Anglo-Indian owes all his beer, 
wines, and spirits, paying for them less, pe rhap% than 
he would pay in the aggregate in England because 
thev do not bear the same heavy duty. The beers and 
pale ales of Hodgson, Bass, and Allsop, and the stout 
of the famous Guinness, are in great request m India, 
The quantity of these grateful beverages which some 
men will drink in a single day is almost fabulous. The 
price of a bottle of beer, if bought m bottles by the 
dozen, is on an average 1*. 3d. ; less, if you buy a cask 
and bottle it yourself. Wines lose nothing by their 
trip to India. Madeira gains. Eyen champagne and 
claret are to be had in considerable periection ; and 
the best Cognac is procurable at half the price it costs 
in Great Britain. Hollands, rum, whiskey, and liqueurs, 
are carried to India in great quantities ; and even Con- 
stantia, Marsala, Tinto, and all the Rhenish wines, find 
a large market at the Presidencies. Soda-water is 
made hy the chemists and provisioned of India ; but 
nothing- else in the shape of a beverage suited to 
Europeans is manufactured in the East. 

No one who is fond of fish will find himself subject 
to very severe privations in India. The harbour of 
Bombay abounds with pomfret-a species of flat tab 
of so exquisite a flavour, that it has been reported of a 
celebrated gourmand that he thought it well worth a 



53 



EUROPEAN LIFE IN INDIA. 



voyage to India — soles, seer (a large fish of the tur- 
bot flavour), bummelows (a glutinous fish of the sub- 
stance of white bait, preferable when dried), prawns, 
hilsa (the salmon of India), and the rock fish. The 
Ganges, the Indus, and Irrawaddee, yield bekhtee, 
mullet, whiting, the tupsee — a delicious little fish re- 
sembling the smelt, and called the mangoe-fish, 
because it makes its appearance at the same time with 
the fruit so termed — oysters, lobsters, crawfish, and an 
infinite number of diminutive members of the finny 
tribe. 

So much for the solids and fluids which go to the 
sustenance of civilized man in the far East. 

The order — the routine, so to speak, of European 
life in India is unavoidably uniform and monotonous. 
People rise very early— before the dawn of day — for 
dawn and twilight are of brief duration in India ; and 
when the sun is once " up," we begin to experience his 
influence. An hour's exercise, either on horseback or 
afoot, is supposed to be necessary to ensure the healthy 
action of the liver. Returning home, a bath, which 
literally consists in having jars of water poured over 
the body, is taken, the newspaper is read, and every- 
body proceeds to business of some kind or other ; while 
ladies, defying the sun, sally forth in their carriages to 
pay visits and make purchases. 

The coachmakers in Calcutta turn out vehicles 
scarcely inferior in appearance to some of the best pro- 
ductions of Long Acre. They consist chiefly of britzkas, 
landaulettes, buggies, chariots, and broughams, and a 
nondescript class of oblong* and square carriages of all 
sizes, which rejoice in the appellations of brownberries 
and palkee-gharrees — from their resemblance to a palan- 
keen on wheels ; and which latter at Madras are called 
shigrams, and at Bombay shigrampoes. 

From ten in the morning until five in the evening, 
everybody is at work. In the major part of the places 



EUROPEAN LIFE IN INDIA. 59 

of business at the Presidencies, tlie heads foremen, and 
principal clerks are either Europeans or East Indians; 
the name given to the class who have descended from 
English fathers, and Mussulman or Hindoo mothers 
or from the early Portuguese conquerors who formed 
honourable (or other) connections with native females. 
In the middle of the day some persons take tiffin, as 
luncheon is called; and this, in too many instances, is 
a sort of miniature dinner, when stews and curries 
are devoured, washed down by copious draughts ot 

Pal l bath and a change of dress precede the evening 
ride or drive. Everywhere there are strands, courses, 
beaches, where the denizens congregate to gossip or 
listen to the music of military bands. Night closes 
in, and the gay groups separate to return home and 

dl This is a sketch of every day English life, but of 
course it is varied by the seasons and the ordinary 
usages of society. There is much interchange ot 
dinner-« iving, balls are frequent at private houses, and 
military messes. Billiards and cards furnish excite- 
ment to ereat numbers ; a few persons cultivate music, 
and now and then an amateur play, a discharge 01 
fireworks, at the expense of some rich native, a re- 
gatta, or a nautch (native dance), enliven society. 
The races are also a great source of amusement, tor 
most people having access to the race-course during 
the " trials" and training of the horses, become cog- 
nizant of their powers, and interested in their success. 
There is little or no trickery on the Indian turt, and 
the actual races, which last for a fortnight, the run- 
ning taking place on alternate days, bring together all 
classes of society bent upon amusement. Ihe torses 
which come to the post, are Arabs, country-breds, 
and the produce of the Cape of Good Hope. Ihe 
Arab, from his small and delicate structure, and tne 



60 



EUROPEAN LIFE IN INDIA. 



shortness of his stride, carries the lowest weight ; the 
country-bred carries a stone more \ and the Cape 
horse, two stone more. English horses are seldom 
allowed to run, for it has been found, that, even with 
three or four stone greater weight upon their back 
than any other class of horse can bear, they win the 
race in a canter, owing chiefly to their length of 
stride. As elsewhere stated, there is some jackall 
hunting carried on in Calcutta, and a little shooting in 
the immediate neighbourhood of Bombay, Jaunts to 
places of interest— old temples, manufactories^ curious 
ruins, picturesque localities, where the scramble and 
make-shift of a pic-nic impart excitement to the scene 
— are by no means unusual, and those who are fond of 
yachting find ample entertainment when the weather 
is fine and settled. 

Yet, after all, the principal amusement of the Eng- 
lish exile — his solace when all other things fail — is to be 
found in literature, of which, happily, there is never 
an insufficient supply. The local press teems with 
publications. There are four daily, and three or four 
weekly papers published in Calcutta, which, besides 
containing all the local intelligence, and the news from 
every part of the country, abound in interesting ex- 
tracts from the English papers and magazines, which 
reach India by every mail. At Madras there are 
several papers published three times a week and 
weekly. At Bombay they have a daily and a few 
weekly papers. At every station throughout India 
are book clubs and libraries. Calcutta boasts an im- 
mense public library, to which access is easy, and at 
each Presidency are learned societies, whose shelves 
groan under the weight of ponderous volumes of 
Asiatic and European lore. Then there are book- 
sellers without number 9 and so vast a quantity of the 
cheaper literature finds its way to India, that it is by 
no means uncommon to be assailed in your palankeen 



EUROPEAN LIFE IN INDIA. 



61 



(at Calcutta at least), with offers of albums and 
scrapbooks, Railway Libraries Shilling Series, Tra- 
vellers' Companions, Household Words 
which fellows nearly nude will sell you for half the 
London prime cost, All these resources combine to 
cheat the exile of much of the wearisomeness ot exist- 
ence ; and if they be not enough, abundance of oppor- 
tunities of employing time usefully are offered m the 
numerous associations for charitable and other pur- 
poses, which have been formed by the enterprise 
philanthropy, and public spirit of Europeans. Oi 
these, some account will be found m a subsequent 

° h Lif" in the Mofussil, or interior of India, is not, 
perhaps, so much variegated as life at the Presiden- 
cies. Still, at the larger military stations there is no 
lack of such gaiety as the presence of two or three 
regiments invariably affords to persons fond of field 
sports ; there are agremens which are vainly sought by 
the denizens of the large towns. Even at the purely 
civil stations, where there is no regiment, the days pass 
in useful occupation, for the collector, the magistrate, 
the iudge, and their assistants, have a world oi work 
to get through, leaving them very little tune for in- 
dulgence in the chase. The post is carried all over 
India, to the most remote stations, and to places 
most difficult of access. All the enjoyments, tliere- 
fore, derivable from correspondence, the " news, and 
new books, are patent to the resident up the country. 
Even the indigo planter, isolated as he seems, is not 
without his share of joys. His business is not irksome, 
although it has its anxieties. When the piant has 
been sown, Nature does the rest, and the only grounds 
of solicitude on the part of the planter, are the possi- 
bility of an inundation, a heavy fall of ram, which 
may wash the dye entirely out of the plant, or intelli- 
gence of a glutted indigo market in England. Ihese 



62 



EUROPEAN LIFE IN INDIA, 



subjects of anxiety set aside, the indigo planter lead 
an easy life. He is generally something- of a farmer 
and not a little of a sportsman. He is the owner of 
horses, dogs, cows, goats, sheep, and an elephant or 
two. His horses are useful in enabling him to ride 
over his estate and watch the progress of the shrubs; his 
elephants are also useful for this purpose, and will carry 
him when out on a tiger hunt. Possibly his nearest 
European neighbour may reside twenty or forty miles 
distant. What cares the planter ? He has a strong 
buggy, perhaps of his own building, and in three or 
four hours he is at a friend's door. The local papers 
reach him daily, and between them and the society of 
his little family (if he has one), or his chums and 
assistants, the payment of his people, the superinten- 
dence of his vats (tanks for the extraction of the dye), 
and the settlement of some suits at law into which he 
has been driven by the obstinacy or hostility of some 
neighbouring zemindar, or farmer, he contrives to kill 
time. He could scarcely be more fully employed in 
the busiest town. 

The following very rough sketch was handed to the 
writer of these pages some few years ago. It is a 
hasty and somewhat coarse picture of the life of a 
prosperous planter, but its general truth is undeniable. 
It came from the hand of one, a genuine Irishman, all 
heart and animation, who sketched his own career. 
The " town" of which he speaks, is Calcutta, which in 
the cold season (November to March), is the rendez- 
vous of all who have indigo to sell for shipment to 
England and elsewhere. 

" The indigo planter is a hale, hearty, rollicking^ 
kind-hearted, jovial soul, hospitable to a degree, al- 
ways ready to serve a friend, and never happy but 
when he has his house full of them, or his friends' 
friends, to partake of his good fare. What a happy 
fellow the planter is when he comes to town with his 



EUROPEAN LIFE IN INDIA. 



63 



bumper crop of fine Hue, the favourite mark of the 
brokers ! How 'happy every one is to see him, and 
how happy is he to see every one ! Let us follow the 
planter to Tulloh and Co.'s Horse Bazaar. Do you 
see that ruddy-faced, broad-shouldered, good-humoured 
looking* fellow, with a broad-brimmed hat, shawl-pat- 
tern waistcoat, and green shooting-coat, into the ample 
pocket of which he has just thrust his brawny left- 
hand, whilst with the right he grasps the delicate 
hand of a pale-faced merchant's clerk, who seems to 
quake under the vice-like squeeze of his hardy friend ? 
That's Morgan Eattler, Esq., of Luckygunge concern ; 
he is one of the fortunate planters ; he only arrived m 
town yesterday, has just had an interview with his 
agents, who all rose to receive him and give him a hearty 
shake of the hand to congratulate him on his splendid 
turn out; they informed him that the brokers had 
been looking on his muster cakes, and Messrs. Fidong 
and Snaley were mad after the batch for the French 
market. Tiffin was at this time most opportunely an- 
nounced, and for the first time in his life he was 
invited to step up-stairs and take a bit of beef-steak 
and a glass of beer, which, by the way, he consumed at 
such a rate as made his bilious hosts to stare again. 
See with what a good-natured entreating countenance 
he continues to grasp the trembling hand of his sallow 
companion ! What can he be saying to him so very 
earnestly? Let us approach, and for once play the 
eaves-dropper. 

" ' Hut-tut, man, don't be after making a fool of 
yourself! Here it's as plain as a pike-staff, you can 
stand it no longer ; you're dying by inches, man, at 
that horrid desk of yours; ask for leave of absence, 
man, and come along up with me ; and if I don't put 
some flesh on those aguish bones of yours, and some 
colour into your faded cheeks, why, my name is not 
Rattler There is plenty of room in my boat, an' 



64 



EUROPEAN LIFE IN INDIA. 



you need take nothing in life with you, but yourself ; 
sure it's at Luckygunge, you'll find the best of every- 
thing. And hark ye ! you must make up your mind 
to stay for the chew I'm going to give on Saint 
Patrick's day in the mornin' ; and wont I invite some 
pretty boys to meet you ! ' 

" The planter, after eight or ten months of mixed toil 
and pleasure, comes to town at the close of a prosper- 
ous season with a joyous heart, professedly to eat beef 
and get rid of some superfluous cash ; he takes up his 
quarters at Spence's, or Wilson's (the principal hotels), 
where he has a good opportunity of doing both ; but 
the month which he allows himself for the above pur- 
pose, he perceives with regret is, like Bob Acre's 
courage, fast oozing out, so he orders his general 
storekeeper to send off his stores, and recommends 
him to be particularly careful about the quality of the 
champagne, 'for sure, didn't the fate of the next 
season depend entirely on the pop of the first bottle 
opened on the first day of manufacturing?' He de- 
spatches a few fresh Arabs, and some additions to his 
kennel 5 and now, having feasted, and been feted, 
having made a speech at the planters' annual dinner, 
at the town hall, and sung a song at the horticultural 
dinner ; having disbursed a few gold mohurs to some 
of the knowing ones at the races; having visited 
Wilson's saloon on Christmas morning, and purchased 
a slice of the mother of cakes ; having given a cham- 
pagne tiffin to his friends 5 in fact, having seen all that 
was possible to be seen, and done all that it was pos- 
sible to do in so short a space of time, the planter pro- 
ceeds to take leave of his agents, preparatory to his 
leaving town. As he is quitting the office, a bundle 
of papers carefully folded and tied with red. tape, is 
put into his hands by one of the clerks; it is his 
account current, exhibiting a net profit on last year's 
turn-out of Co.'s rupees 80,536-8-9. And now he is 



EUROPEAN LIFE IN INDIA. 



65 



off to his own element, the Mofussil. Let us go along 
with him and see him in his glory. 

" We' 11 suppose Morgan Rattler, Esq., arrived at 
Luckygunge, where, as he approaches his handsome 
and elegantly furnished mansion, he is met by his 
gomasta-jee and a whole host of sircars, all bowing 
and salaaming, and each anxious to catch a glance 
from their master's eye ; he makes some inquiries 
about the factory, the state of the October crop, and 
the fate of such or such a civil suit that has been 
going on for the last six years. He then turns to his 
jemadar syce (or head groom), and makes most affec- 
tionate inquiries after the health and well-being of 
his horses and dogs. Having said a kind word to 
each, he gives them all their roolisut. And now ap- 
proaches his favourite, the garrulous English writer, 
Rajnarain, with his c good moren, sare ; hope master is 
well in health ; many letters for master.' 1 Hah ! are 
there?— from whom?' 6 Oh, from different, indif- 
ferent gentlemens, master's friends, who all will be 
much glad to hear master come back.' ^ 1 Ay, ay, 
here they are, sure enough : what a precious set of 
correspondents I have, to be sure ! Here's from 
Snooks, and Shanks, and Brown, and Snaggs, and 
Sniggers, and — oh! here's a chit from young Never- 
do-good ; let's see what he has to say for himself: — 

" c My Dear Rattler, — Glad you 're back again ; 
we had capital sport yesterday ; such a run, and my 
eye, such spilling ! oh, you ought to 've been with us ; 
there never was such fun ; made seven grunters bite 
the dust ; I had a most awful purl myself; went slap- 
bang into a khate ; snapped off my mare's leg — obliged 
to shoot her on the spot, poor thing ! Oh, hang it, 
never mind, I '11 replace her with half a dozen Arabs, 
if I make a good season, and old Blowhard, my 
gomasta, assures me that we 're sure to do so. Come 



68 



EUROPEAN LIFE IN INDIA. 



over, man, or by Jove we ? 11 storm you, to give you a 
benefit. We 're to have a grand rifle match in a day 
or two. Old Snarleyyow is floored at last. Just 
heard of a grunter being in the neighbourhood, so I ? m 
off. — Yours to the last grunt, 

'Newman Noggs.' 

" The life of an indigo planter is decidedly the most 
delightful one in India ; much, however, depends on 
the first set off. The getting connected with a good 
concern at the first start, is the tide in the affairs of 
the planter, which taken at the flood, leads on to for- 
tune, &c. How perfectly independent he feels, and 
really is, in the Mofussil ! with what awe and respect 
he is looked upon by the ryots around him ! To whom 
does the miserable, hard-worked, ill-fed ryot, in his 
hour of trouble, flee for protection, aye, even for pro- 
tection against the unfair and oppressive acts of his 
own countryman, the native talookdar ? To whom 
but to the kind-hearted and generous planter, the ma 
bap, as they style him, of the locality ? And seldom 
does he apply in vain, for the planter has a heart that 
can feel for another, and thus, in endeavouring to do 
good to all around him, his days run peacefully on, 
unless he has the misfortune to have a budzat of a 
neighbour to steal his coolies, and offer higher rents 
for his lands as their pottahs (leases) expire. 

"The planter rises in the morning with the lark; he 
passes through a lane of obsequious, well-dressed 
servants, and receives a salaam down to the ground 
from each as he makes his way to the veranda where 
the khansamah awaits him, chowrie in hand, to keep 
off the flies from his master's coffee. On a tea-tray 
beside him rests the last newspaper which came in 
during the night; there are also letters, some from his 
real, and some from his 1 faithful ' friends ; he runs his 
eye over them, and then turns to a fresh chapter of the 



EUROPEAN LIFE IN INDIA. 



67 



last new novel; meantime his beautiful Arab is ready 
saddled, being led up and down the avenue before his 
admiring' eyes, and his dogs caper about and make the 
welkin ring- with their loud baying. The gomasta 
approaches with a handful of native letters from the 
out-factories; some announcing rain and the completion 
of the sowings; some askings for cash; &c. Answers are 
directed to be prepared for each ; and then the light- 
hearted planter jumps into the saddle, and his noble 
steed springs forward with its curved neck and flowing 
tail ; he passes over fields of indigo ; and his eyes are 
gladdened at the sight of such flourishing plants. And 
now he ventures to make a mental calculation of the 
probable profit that — barring all accidents — may accrue 
therefrom. As he continues his ride ; turning duty into 
pleasure ; he sees his people at work around hini; and 
receives a 6 salaam kodarvuncV from each as he passes; 
he has no fault to find with anybody ; everything* 
chulh (goes on) like clockwork; and so, after one or 
two smart runs after a jackall or fox; with a contented 
heart he turns his horse's head homewards. Arrived, 
he throws himself upon a damask couch; or easy chair, 
and takes up his favourite paper, to finish some pleasant 
editorial contained therein. And now approaches his 
faithful sirdar-bearer to inform his lord that the hazree 
ha woquet (breakfast time) has arrived ; and as the 
planter is about to retire to dress ; rat-a-plat; rat-a-plat, 
come galloping up the avenue half a dozen flannel- 
jacketed and solah*-h.aiteA planters; and their assist- 
ants. Rattler runs into the veranda to give his friends 
a hearty welcome, and in an instant has his right arm 
nearly dislocated by the force with which his visitors 
try at it in their empressement to welcome him back with 
a hearty, true old English shake of the hand. 

* The solah is a white pulp of a tree, of a light texture 
admirably adapted to keep off the sun's rays. 



EUROPEAN LIFE IN INDIA. 



" e Wel\ } Rattler, my boy, I'm as glad as twopence 
to see you Lack again/ 

" e Ha ! Snooks, how goes it ? eh ? Comment vous — 
how do you do, Monsieur Sangfroid ? Delighted to see 
you.' 

" 6 Ha ! Mister Rattailer — my goodness it is very 
estrange— -je ne pent jamais achever un compliment en 
Anglais; merci, Monsieur Rattleir, I am moosh glad to 
see you back ; par bleu } dat will do I tink ! ' 

" ' Oh, Rattler ! we had such a flare up at Noggs's the 
other day, but we wanted you, man—we wanted you ; 
have you heard of old Snarley's misfortune?' 

" 6 But I say, Sniggers, don't you feel rather corn- 
flushed after last night's booz? Hi, Kudda Bux, 
bellattee pawny lao.' * 

" i Acha kodahwund" f and in a brace of minutes 
a dozen of Bathgate's double-aerated are made ma- 
rines of. 

" Breakfast is now over, the Iamb chops and sau- 
terne have been tried and pronounced excellent, and 
now for the order of the day. 

" ( Well, my boys, what shall we be after? Snooks, I 
know, will be for the billiards; let Shanks go along 
with him, and you, Mr. Cunningfellow, you had better 
follow and look on and learn, and let those who choose, 
take a stroll with me into the stables. I want to look 
after my purchases, after which we'll have a set-to 
with the rifles or quoits, or whatever you like best.' 

" Thus passes the day, during which bella ttee pawny 
is in constant requisition. Allsopp's pale ale has been 
opened by dozens at a time, and hundreds, nay thou- 
sands of Manillas have been puffed into the air. 

" The sun is now declining in the western hemisphere, 
and the jolly host reminds his guests that the horses 

* " Bring soda-water ! " 

+ " Yes, sir;" or — '* Good, your slave will do it." 



EUROPEAN LIFE IN INDIA. 6& 

and elephant are ready at the door; a hasty wash and 
change of clothes now takes place, and behold our 
friends mounted and dashing* on to the highlands in 
search of a jackall, or whatever fortune may throw in 
their way. * * * * 

" It is night, and a hundred lights illume the man- 
sion; the bearded khansumah, with folded hands, 
informs his munnib that Itannah (dinner) is on the 
table. We will not say one hackneyed word about the 
choicest viands of the season, sparkling wines, groans 
of the table, and all that kind of thing ; suffice it to 
say, Morgan Rattler was never known to give a bad 
dinner, and so now that we have got his guests' legs 
under his mahogany, let us leave them to get from 
under it when, and how, they can. 

u It must not be supposed that the life of a planter is 
always couleur de rose. Oh, no ! the dark clouds of 
adversity and disappointment obscure the horizon of 
the planter as they do that of all other walks in life ; the 
season may be unfavourable, perhaps downright bad, 
much money has been sunk, lost, because of a few 
showers of rain more or less; and then the agents hum 
and haw, and look stiff, and talk about low prices, 
scarcity of money in the market, panic at home, crisis 
in America, hostilities with Prance, necessity of cur- 
tailment, &c. &c. But all this kind of thing does not 
make the planter despair: he exclaims with Jacob 
Faithful, 1 Better luck next time/ believes in the hope 
of doing better next year, and when the next season is 
closed, and his hopes have been realized beyond all 
computation, who would, or could, grudge him his good 
luck ? Let us rather close this long* yarn by wishing 
each good fellow among the fraternity a bumper 
season this year, and many duplicates of it for the 
future." 

The life of an English lady in India is one of perfect 
leisure. No household cares occupy her thoughts or 



; 70 



EUROPEAN LIFE IN INDIA. 



•kill her time. The khdnmimah and the ay all between 
them assume all the duties which in England pertain 
to the mistress of a household, and she has little left 
lier to do beyond reading the stock of a circulating 
library, and doing a little knitting and crochet work. 
If she be an equestrian, and is so circumstanced as to 
have horses kept for her, the early mornings and late 
evenings may He consumed in out-of-door exercise— if 
she is musical, or cultivates the line arts, a part of the 
day may be pleasantly employed in illustrating the 
scenery of the country, and the costumes and habits of 
the people. If piously or charitably inclined, or dis- 
posed to activity in the absence of ennobling motives, 
the numerous ladies' committees of the branches of the 
Bible societies, or associations for the promotion of 
education among the Christian poor or native females, 
open a scope to her philanthropy. Should she happily 
be a mother of children, the baba loff ue, or little people, 
as the olive-branches are called in India, engage much 
of her care, and mitigate the solitude of her position, 
while her husband is engaged in his official duties. 

Children, though a source of much delight in India, 
are, at the same time, objects of great solicitude. Pre- 
maturely enfeebled by the intense heat of the climate, 
and exposed to all the diseases incidental to infancy in 
other countries, they either grow up poor attenuated 
creatures, or are sent to England, ere they attain their 
sixth year, that their constitutions may not be shaken 
irrevocably- In either case the parents endure much 
agony. They must either see their offspring waste 
away and fall victims to disease, or consent to be 
separated from them for many years, to the utter 
destruction of all those sentiments which hallow the 
relations of parent to child, and constitute the chief 
charm of existence. It is rare indeed that, after a 
separation of five or six years, a son or daughter suf- 
ficiently remember their parents to feel towards them 



EUROPEAN LIFE IN INDIA. 



n 



the affection which is the result of perpetual inter- 
course. A sad drawback is all this to the pleasure of 
matrimony in India ; but it is an evil without remedy. 
There are certainly schools and sanataria in the moun- 
tains of India, access to which is comparatively easy, 
and where the fierceness of the sun is mitigated and 
subdued by the fine breezes from the north ; but the 
quality of education at the academies, and the con- 
tinual companionship of native servants, are unfavour- 
able to the formation of that peculiarly " British " cha- 
racter which every Englishman holds to be desirable 
in his child. Separation therefore becomes unavoid- 
able. The addition of a child or two makes an enor- 
mous difference in the expenditure of a family, for there 
must be special servants to attend upon them. There 
must be a nurse, and often a little boy, and when the 
hope of the family is two or three years old, he must 
have a pony wherewith to take the air, and the pony 
must have a syce. Then the doctor of the establish- 
ment is more frequently called in to assuage a mother's 
alarm, and bills increase in length. It is only in the 
article of dress that children are inexpensive. For the 
greater part of the day their clothing consists of one 
small chemise, and they are neither encumbered with 
stockings nor shoes. Their toys are not costly, for the 
India manufacturers compose them either of wood or 
sola — the light pulp of a tree the former cannot be 
broken, and the latter are so cheap, that if one hundred 
per week were immolated, a father could hardly feel 
the loss. 



72 



TRAVELLING IN INDIA. 



CHAPTER VI. 



TKAVELLINGr IN INDIA. 



The first railway — Boat travelling on the Ganges — The banks 
of the Hooghly — Dawk — Marching — The necessary prepara- 
tions and equipment. 

It will scarcely be credited by those who know the 
English propensity to improve every possession, re- 
claim every inch of savage ground, and augment the 
comforts of the inhabitants of any country under their 
rule, how little has been done to promote intercourse 
with the interior by the construction of carriage roads, 
There nre but one or two good long roads, extending 
across the continent, over which a buggy may be safely 
driven — the rest are paths cut by the continual traffic 
of native carts, pedestrians, camel cqfilas, or caravans, 
and the dawk. Had it not been that a railway has 
just been opened in a corner of India, between Bombay 
and Tannah, this little volume would have gone forth, 
with the announcement, so discreditable to the rulers of 
the country, that although we have had railways in 
England since 1827, and have constructed them in the 
West Indies and other colonies, such a means of loco- 



TRAVELLING IN INDIA. 



73 



motion was still wanting* in the East Indies. The 
event — the opening- of the Bombay and Tannah rail- 
way — is one of such deep interest and importance, 
Heralding*, as we may hope it does, a still greater ad- 
vance in that direction, that we shall make no apology 
for transferring the description of the ceremony from 
the fugitive pages of the Illustrated News, 

The time-honoured maxim, that peace has its tri- 
umphs as well as war, has just been exemplified in 
Western India by the opening of the Great Indian 
Peninsula railway, on the 16th of April, 1853, which 
must be a memorable day henceforth in the annals of 
the country — memorable as the greatest of battles, and 
surely more glorious. The interesting intelligence 
is recorded with glowing enthusiasm by the Bombay 
journals. The Ooerland Telegraph and Courier de- 
scribes the above event as " a triumph, to which, in 
comparison, all our victories in the East seem tame and 
commonplace. The opening* of the Great Indian Penin- 
sula railway will be remembered by the natives of India 
when the battle fields of Plassey, Assaye, Meanee, and 
Goojerat, have become the mere landmarks of history. 
The proud arrays of England have conquered, and 
kept in subjection, hundreds of millions of people, but 
her power was never so nobly exemplified as when, 
upon the above date, the long line of carriages, 
conveying nearly 500 persons, glided smoothly and 
easily away amidst the shouts of assembled thousands. 
It was then that the immense masses of the native 
population paid true and heartfelt homage to the power 
and greatness of their European conquerors. The 
superstition of ages seemed to melt away as the 
gigantic reality of steam and mechanism passed before 
their wondering* eyes. A locomotive engine conveys 
an idea of calm concentrated power. There is no 
straining at starting* : a touch is given, the wheels re- 
volve, and the immense mass rolls on without trembling 



74 



TRAVELLING IN INDIA. 



,or undulation. The natives saw this, and they salaamed 
the omnipotence of steam as it passed. 

Before we describe the ceremony of the day, we 
bhall sketch the railway itself. The first turf was 
turned at Bombay, on the 31st of October, 1850. 
Very little was done for the first eight months, 
till Messrs. Faviell and Fowler, the contractors, at 
one end, and Mr. Jackson at the other, took mat- 
ters in hand. The work appears to have been one 
of great labour and difficulty. In addition to a most 
trying climate (in which the constitution of Mr. 
Fowler, the partner of Mr. Faviell, as well as that of 
many of the English labourers they took out with them, 
failed), Mr. Faviell found himself, in March, 1852, 
working single-handed, his partner having gone to Eng- 
land for the benefit of his health. Mr. Faviell was 
then dependent principally on native labour : the men 
are scarce, and in the rice-harvest time always difficult 
to manage : alteration in the arrangement of the work, 
or strict orders given by the contractor, often gave 
offence, when men went away in a body of fifty or a 
hundred at a time. It was also difficult to get them 
to earn their small rate of wages. 

Snakes abounded on the line : the cobra di cnpello, 
and a small dark snake, were very common among the 
stones ; the former is an object of worship, and both 
have a deadly bite. Under these and many other 
difficulties, however, the double line of railway has 
been completed from Bombay to Tannah. 

From the Boree Bunder the railway proceeds by a 
very densely-peopled district, till, skirting along the 
shore, it passes the lofty precipice of Nowrojee Hill. 
Here the public road twice crosses it at nearly right 
angles, where huge gates shut up the railway, or cut 
off the public road, according as they are in one posi- 
tion or another. After passing under the Mazagon 
viaduct, opposite the Suddur Awlut, the railway de- 



TRAVELLING IN INDIA. 



75 



scribes a graceful double curve of large radius, and 
then crosses the Byculla road, near the Bishop s house, 
and, passing under a viaduct, it reaches the flats near 
the race-course. From the curious gravel-bank called 
Phipps's Cart, it stretches along the fiats to Sion for 
six miles, in almost a straight line. At Sion it passes 
under the public road and along the base_ of the hill, 
on the summit of which is an old Marathi fort, and a 
Portuguese church contiguous. Here it is joined by 
the branch at Malum, an unimportant fishing village, 
but likely to be transiormed by the railway into a busy 
port. Next, the line sweeps across the Sion Marsh, 
the embanking of which threatened to be very trouble- 
some—the material thrown in sinking amongst the 
mud, which afterwards rose up, forming a little island 
on each side along the line. Here, immediately ad- 
joining, and nearly parallel to the railway, we have 
the Sion causeway on one side ; and full in view, two 
miles distant, the magnificent work of the like kind, 
constructed by Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy, and first 
opened in 1844. The railway now bends considerably 
to the right, and, passing through a long line of salt- 
pans, it enters Salsette, and encounters the only for- 
midable obstruction on the line — a beautifully wooded 
ridge, traversed by an open cutting, about a mile and a 
half in length, about one hundred and twenty feet 
across at the widest part, and fifty feet in depth. For 
the next fourteen miles the line is perfectly level, the 
rails being laid along the surface of the ground with 
merely sufficient embanking to save them from the risk 
of flooding during the rains. The country, for a con- 
siderable distance, is open on both sides, and the view- 
is extremely beautiful. To the left are the low, rocky, 
wooded ridges of Salsette ; woodlands and richly-culti- 
vated fields, hamlets and cottages, filling up the inter- 
vening space. On the right, parallel to and close beside 
the railway for about eight miles, is the salt-water 



76 



TRAVELLING IN INDIA. 



creek called the Tannah River, and just beyond are the 
magnificent ghauts. The line, on approaching Tannah, 
becomes embowered under magnificent trees. On en* 
tering the village, it turns rather quickly round towards 
the viaduct, by which it crosses the river, here divided 
by a long and rocky island. The channel on the Tan- 
nah side is narrow, and the arches here are of moderate 
span. On the mainland side the channel is deep and 
narrow ; and an iron bridge, somewhat on the tubular 
plan, 86 feet span, permits the shipping to pass under 
it. The whole viaduct, from shore to shore, including 
the part over the river, is about 1,000 feet in length, 
and the ferry way about 40 feet above the high-water 
mark. Thence the line runs along the base of the hill, 
at a distance of about three miles, right on to the pro- 
jecting spur of Parsick Point, which it penetrates by a 
tunnel of 100 yards in length. On the other side the 
traveller passes for about a mile along the margin of 
the Callian River, surrounded by some of the most 
magnificent scenery in the world, when a second tunnel 
is passed, and the village of Callian is soon reached. 

The inauguration, on the 16th of April, was alto- 
gether a most interesting scene. By half-past three 
o'clock the majority of the company had taken their 
seats in the train. 

The state carriage was occupied by Sir William and 
Lady Yardley, Sir Charles and Lady Jackson, the Hon. 
A. Bell and" Lady, the Hon. D. A. Blane, Sir Henry 
and Lady Leeke, &c. 

At half-past three o'clock, a royal salute was fired 
from the ramparts of Fort George, immediately after 
which the well-filled train, consisting of fourteen first, 
second, and third-class carriages, drawn by three lo- 
comotive engines, and containing in all, it was said, 
above five hundred persons, started for the terminus at 
Boree Bunder. 

Tens of thousands of persons surrounded the spot j 



TRAVELLING IN INDIA. 



77 



and, as the moving mass swept along the way, still 
there were tens of thousands looking on— men, women, 
and children — perched on wall tops, on the branches of 
trees, even on the masts of Arab buglas along the har- 
bour ; from windows and from the tops of temples and 
of houses; from every eminence around the town: 
finally, when the train had passed the more densely- 
populated parts, still the surrounding fields were 
studded with spectators. 

Besides the inhabitants of Bombay proper, and the 
neighbouring country, there were in those crowds 
people from Scinde, from Cabul, from Affghanistan, 
from Central Asia, from the Persian Gulf, from Arabia, 
and from the East Coast of Africa. 

There is little to describe, particularly to the great 
majority of our readers, in an ordinary railway trip. 
It is due, however, to those who had the task of ma- 
turing all the arrangements for the occasion, to say 
that everything went on smoothly. The train stopped 
at Sion, going out, to allow of the engines being- 
watered. At no time was the speed above thirty-five 
miles an hour, and generally it was much under that. 
On the train approaching Tannah, the crowds lined 
the sides thickly for more than a mile, and were kept 
in order by the Ghat police. The time taken to reach 
Tannah (twenty-four miles), including the stoppage at 
Sion, was fifty-five minutes. The return trip occupied 
only forty. 

Arrived at Tannah, the party found, under an im- 
mense tent, at once a cool retreat and a splendid tiffin. 
Major Swanson, the senior Director present, took the 
chair ; supported by the Hon. Sir William Yardley, 
Chief Justice ; by Sir Henry Leeke, R.N., Com- 
mander-in-Chief of the Indian Navy 5 also immediately 
surrounded by the Hon. Messrs. Bell and Blane, 
Members of Council; Sir Charles Jackson, Puisne 
Judge H. M.'s Supreme Court; Colonel F. P. Lester, 



78" 



TRAVELLING IN INDIA. 



Surgeon - General Taylor, Superintending - Surgeon 
Boyd, Colonel Woodburn, C.B., Commandant of the 
Garrison; Mr. Le Messurier, Advocate - General ; 
Colonel Hale, Adjutant- General ; and a distinguished 
company, comprising the elite of Bombay. 

At a separate table laid out for the Parsee pas- 
sengers were Messrs. Cursetjee Jainsetjee, Bomanjee 
Hormusjee, Manockjee Nusservvanjee, Merwanjee Jee- 
jeebhoy, Sorabjee Jamsatjee, Limjee Manockjee, Fur- 
doonjee Hormasjee, Nowrojee Furdoonjee, Nowrojee 
Dorabjee Chabookwalla. Sitting quietly looking on 
were Meer Ali Jan and a few Marwarrie gentlemen. 

Several appropriate speeches were made, and toasts 
drunk, which we have not space to report. 

Shortly after, the party broke up, and returned to 
the Boree Bunder terminus. 

As it must necessarily be some years before railways 
can become general in India, we must altogether put 
them out of consideration for the present in treating of 
the mode of travelling open to the Europeans and re- 
spectable natives in that country. 

The only methods, then, by which remote distances 
can be reached are the boat, the dawk, and the horse. 

Boat travelling is common on the Ganges, the 
Indus, the Brahmapootra, and the Irrawaddy. The 
other rivers, such as the Nerbudda, the Godavery, 
Kistna, <fcc, admit of traffic by small boats, but are 
rarely traversed by Europeans. 
• The boat travelling is of two kinds. There is the 
accommodation flat, tugged by iron steamers on the 
Ganges, and proceeding*" as far as the Jumna, and 
there is the barge, or schooner, under the various 
denominations of budgerow, pinnace, and bholio. The 
budgerow is the largest, and for a person who is not m 
a hurry, it forms a very agreeable mode of transit. 
The larger budgerows are of from fifty to eighty tons 
ourthen. One-half of the vessel consists of a decked. 



TRAVELLING IN INDIA. 



79 



cabin having two or three spacious rooms, a poop, and 
an awning. The fore part of the vessel is occupied by 
the crew, who consist of a manjee, or steersman, and 
from six to ten dandies, or boatmen, who either work 
the sails, or row or tug the vessel when the wind and 
tide are adverse. The budgerow is often accompanied* 
by a panshwa?/, a small boat in which the cooking is 
carried on, for it is impossible to exist in the bungalow 
cabin if cooking is conducted on board with the wind 
ahead. In these budgerows voyages are made into the 
interior to a distance of .1,000 miles, occupying* two, 
three, and even four months. A gentleman, therefore, 
must take w T ith him his establishment of servants — at 
any rate, his cook and his personal servant. Fowls, 
milk, and butter, can be obtained at the villages on the 
banks of the river, and rice and fire-wood are also to 
be had; but anything else must be carried from Cal- 
cutta. Thus a store of hams, tongues, humps, pre- 
served meats, anchovies, sardines, pickles, preserves, 
&c.j will be found necessary, and a complete camp 
equipage is indispensable. With a few books and an 
intelligent companion a river voyage is by no means so 
disagreeable a thing. The banks of the river present 
a variety of scenery, and when the wind is foul, or the 
budgerow gets upon a sand-bank, the passenger can go 
on shore and amuse himself with his fowling-piece. 

To one who has never seen any larg-er river than the 
Thames or Severn, the Ganges presents a noble ap- 
pearance. Its immense expanse raises the idea of an 
ocean ; the distant trees look more as if they grew on 
detached islands than on the opposite bank of the 
river. The stillness of the scene adds to the illusion; for 
notwithstanding* the rapid current and muddy tinge of 
the water, the Ganges flows on so soft and yielding a 
soil that it is accompanied by none of that loud hoarse 
murmuring which characterizes a body of water run- 
ning* over a rocky bed or gravelly bottom. * 



80 



TRAVELLING IN INDIA. 



The Ganges, however, is very different ^ to the 
Hooghly, the river which is continued from it to the 
ocean. The former realizes the sublime, the latter is 
simply pretty. 

It is astonishing that so little has ever been said and 
written about the'extraordinary beauty of the banks of 
the Hooghly, in the environs of Calcutta. The scenery 
on either side of the river is charming. The mariner 
who has, during a long period, gazed upon nothing- 
excepting sky and water, must fancy that Paradise 
has opened upon his wondering eyes. While the 
upper provinces of India, though boasting grander 
features (the Hooghly being the most sublime object 
in the picture we are contemplating), present, at 
various seasons of the year, very different aspects, 
Bengal is always the same. The moisture of its 
climate, and the nature of the soil, concur in preserving 
an eternal verdure, which is only to be seen during the 
season of the rains in the more arid districts. Even in 
the hottest weather, when the thermometer is up to 
130°, perhaps for weeks together, and when the sun 
pours down so fierce a flood of light that it would 
seem as if its scorching influence were sufficient to 
dry up every blade of grass, the whole earth is 
covered with a rich carpet, and the moment that the 
sun sets, a refreshing coolness fills the air, and the 
eyes revel upon scenery of the richest luxuriance. 
Excepting in the immediate vicinity of the river, 
Bengal is a dead flat ; and were it not for the diver- 
sity occasioned by the quantity of its wood, sometimes 
spread into groves, at others thickening into forests, 
and in all places profusely scattered, it would be 
monotonous in the extreme. But the banks of the 
Hooghly are, in many places, so high that, especially at 
some sharp angle of the river, they assume the cha- 
racter of promontories; and these are wooded to the 
top. Nothing can exceed the beauty of the foliage 



TRAVELLING IN INDIA. 



which waves over this favoured land. The bamboo 
flings its long branches down with all the grace of the 
willow, the numerous species of palms rise in regal 
majesty above, and the fine feathery foliage of both 
are relieved by the bright masses of the neem, the 
peepuL and a host of others, many bearing resplendent 
flowers of a thousand dyes. The magnolia is common 
in the neighbourhood of Calcutta, and amid a vast 
number of the acacia tribe, there is one of peculiar 
beauty, called the babool. It is covered with a flower 
tufted like a ball, of a golden colour, which gives out 
so delicious a perfume to the breeze that one is sum- 
cient to scent a whole garden. 

Upon leaving Calcutta, the river, for miles, presents 
the most gay and beautiful scenes imaginable. At 
comparatively short intervals there are ghauts or lancl- 
ino- places, built from the banks into the water, for the 
purpose of affording facilities for the natives to bathe 
and fill their water-pots ; these are all constructed ^ of 
brick, chunamed- The chunam is a stucco made prin- 
cipally of lime, which takes a fine polish, and which, 
being porous, always presents a dry surface. It gives 
all the effects of stone to the buildings which are 
faced with it; and when formed of the finest materials, 
many beautiful architectural ornaments are constructed 
of it. Near these ghauts, which consist of wide flights 
of steps finished on either side with a balustrade, there 
is usually a mosque, a pagoda, or a series of small 
Hindoo temples, entitled mhuts, which are of a bee- 
hive shape, and not a great deal larger, and which, 
when grouped together, produce a very good effect. 
The summits of the most striking elevations are usually 
crowned by a picturesque building, either a mosque or 
a pagoda; formerly the latter were invariably known' 
bv the mitre-like appearance of their domes, but many 
modern erections have the round, flattened dome of 
Mussulman temples. These beautiful domes, or their ac- 

G 



82 



TRAVELLING IN INDIA. 



eompanying minarets, are sometimes only seen peeping 
through the branches of the trees ; and if placed on 
high ground, they are approached by a stair, which 
winds down the declivity, and is partially revealed at 
every opening*. These stairs, which are very hand- 
some, usually end in a ghaut; and they are often, if 
belonging to a Hindoo temple, strewed from the top to 
the bottom with fresh flowers of the most beautiful 
description. Long garlands of the Indian jessamine, a 
large white double blossom, with a rich but heavy 
perfume — or of a large scarlet or yellow flower, hang* 
over the rails, and are often flung into the river as 
propitiatory offerings ; every Hindoo shrine being pro- 
fusely decorated with flowers, the floors even are 
strewed with them. The followers of Mahomed 
have so far adopted the custom of their heathen 
neighbours, as to spread flowers upon the tombs of 
their departed friends; both religions light lamps in 
their temples at night, and the glimmering of these 
small beacons through the trees after sunset adds con- 
siderably to the charm of the scene. There is likewise 
another attraction. Many of the trees actually seem 
encircled by a halo, in consequence of the multitudes 
of fire-flies which glance in and out, emitting a greenish 
golden light, like that which would proceed from a 
lamp formed of emeralds. Though the greater num- 
ber of these luminous insects disport themselves round 
the trees, many flash like meteors along the air, cross- 
ing the path, whether on shore or on the water, 
and rendering night more beautiful, even in the pre- 
sence of the stars, which come out so thickly and so 
brightly in this glittering hemisphere, that, excepting' 
during the cloudy season of the rains, the nights are 
never dark. While the sun has still left a soft stain of 
either saffron or crimson upon the river, how pleasant 
it is to glide along ; at one time, a wooded promontory 
stretching into the water, bounding the view — at 



TRAVELLING IN INDIA. 



83 



another, a wide expanse of water opening before it, 
studded with islands, and apparently leading- to regions 
of still softer enchantment. All this pomp of beauty 
is increased as we approach Barrackpore and Seram- 
pore, places opposite to each other, on the banks of the 
river, sixteen miles from Calcutta. 

The principal part of Barrackpore lies inland, but 
the ghaut, the signal-post, the viceregal palace, and 
various other buildings, partly embowered in trees, are 
visible ; while on the opposite shore, Serampore pre- 
sents one of the noblest esplanades that can be 
imagined, backed by a range of magnificent houses. 
Some are exceedingly lofty, and surrounded by exten- 
sive court-yards ; others present rich clusters of pillars 
in long colonnades, supporting verandahs tier upon tier, 
while the number of fine trees which intervene afford a 
most beautiful diversity of objects. The interior of 
Serampore keeps the promise which a distant view has 
given ; it is without exception the best kept town in 
India. The Protestant missionaries of Bengal have 
established their head-quarters at Serampore; there 
they have erected a college, one of the largest and 
handsomest amid the many large and handsome build- 
ing's of the place, and the Danes themselves (who for- 
merly owned Serampore) being a highly religious and 
a very quiet and orderly community, there is nothing 
in the shape of dissipation going on in a settlement 
which looks as if it must belong to some splendid and 
brilliant court, the suburban retreat of regal magnifi- 
cence. The ghauts are not crowded as in Cal- 
cutta with multitudes of merely trading vessels, 
but the frigate-like pinnace, the gaily-painted bud- 
gerow, and the graceful bohlio, somewhat resem- 
bling, though more brilliant in its decorations, the 
Venetian gondola, dance upon the glittering surface 
of the river, or spreading their white sails to the 
breeze ; glide swiftly along. These gay and fairy-like 



84 



TRAVELLING IX INDIA. 



vessels are contrasted by the country craft continually 
ascending* or descending the mighty stream, boats of 
various dimensions, from eighty maunds burthen (a 
maund is about forty pounds), to the small dinghee, 
which looks as if the centre was formed of a hogshead, 
the sort of cabin or awning raised as a protection 
against the weather, having this appearance. The 
larger kinds have thatched roofs, or choppers as they 
are* called; and they are rendered still more picturesque 
bv a ragged sail, sometimes the colour of ochre, and 
by long garlands of white, yellow, and scarlet flowers, 
festooned from the prow. 

The native groups which congregate in the streets 
and ghauts of Serampore are very striking. No abject 
poverty, and no disgusting features of any kind, are to 
be seen ; the very convicts who work in fetters in the 
streets, and who are employed in removing dirt or rub- 
bish of every sort, are cheerful and orderly. In fact, 
the lower orders of natives lazily reconcile themselves to 
their condition, and if not ill-treated will submit with 
patience to any change of fortune. And here it will 
not be out of place to introduce an anecdote relative to 
convicts in India that is highly characteristic of 
native society, and shows the extraordinary principles 
of honour on which even the lower classes act A 
magistrate, being anxious to cut a road through a 
dense forest, employed the convicts under his charge 
for that purpose. The labour was very great, and also 
exceedingly tedious, in consequence of the difficulty 
which the men sustained in working in their manacles. 
The magistrate was known to be of a benevolent dis- 
position, and a deputation of the convicts waited on 
him one day, and told him that if he would -permit 
their fetters to be removed, and trust to their pledge 
that they would not take advantage of the facilities it 
would afford them for escape, he should not lose a 
single man ; while the work would be more speedily 



TRAVELLING 1 1ST INDIA. 



85 



and efficiently performed. The magistrate, after a 
short deliberation, determined to hazard the chance of 
what might have been a very serious affair to himself, 
and relieved the men from their chains. Long before 
he could have expected its completion he had nine 
miles of broad road cleared ; while the convicts re- 
turned voluntarily every night to their jail, and as they 
had promised, he did not lose one of their number. 

There are a number of natives resident at Seram- 
pore. Some of their houses, having rather a cas- 
tellated appearance, and being more secluded from 
view than those of the Europeans, may be seen half- 
shadowed by trees, and half abutting into the river, 
adding considerably to the beauty and variety of the 
landscape. They also assemble in huge parties in the 
streets and thoroughfares, all clad in the purest white 
muslin. The Hindoos of Bengal have not so generally 
adopted the Mohammedan vest and trousers as those 
of the upper country. They wear the dhotee, which 
consists of one long breadth of muslin folded round the 
loins, and descending in very graceful drapery to the 
ancles. The upper part of their bodies is only par- 
tially covered with another breadth of muslin, which is 
arranged in a variety of ways, the wearer often chang- 
ing its mode as he walks along. Notwithstanding the 
fierce vertical rays of the sun, the Bengallees fre- 
quently go bareheaded, the men occasionally some- 
what effeminately wearing a wreath of white flowers 
in their hair. The triple string, the distinguishing 
mark of a Brahmin, worn across the shoulder, and 
fastening on the opposite side at the waist, is fre- 
quently formed of threaded flowers, and has a good 
appearance upon the polished skins of men, who from 
the symmetry of their proportions may be compared 
to so many moving^ statues of bronze. Sometimes the 
rich people are disfigured by a superabundance of 
flesh, but in that case they have usually the good 



86 



TRAVELLING IN INDIA. 



taste to put on additional clothing. Rich gold or- 
naments in the shape of bracelets, ear-rings, and 
talismans of various kinds suspended from the neck, 
complete a costume which is graceful, flowing, and 
picturesque. It would be difficult by mere words to 
convey any adequate idea of the soft enchantments of 
a scene in which the magnificent and the romantic are 
so strongly blended together. 

The adoption of the budgerow in preference to the 
river steamer or the dawk, is generally the result of 
economical considerations. The fare by the river 
steamer is very high, and beyond the means of a young 
officer about to join his regiment, or an assistant 
planter proceeding to his factory. In the case of the 
officer a certain number of days are allowed him for 
the voyage, during which he receives a travelling 
gratuity in the shape of extra daily pay, and this sup- 
plies an inducement to him to take the slower course 
when other motives do not prevail. 

Boat travelling can only be effected by those who 
belong to the Bengal Presidency, or who may be or- 
dered from the mouth of the Indus to a station at the 
upper part of the Sutlej. In the latter case, the Bom- 
bay officer is conveyed to Kurrachee, the chief port at 
the mouth of the Indus, and from thence he makes 
his way by a river steamer or boat. The voyage up 
the Indus is far from pleasant. The intense heat, the 
sandy shores, the burning blast, carrying with it mil- 
lions of particles of sand, the unfriendly character of 
the natives— all combine to render the voyage dreary, 
painful, and uninteresting. 

The dawk, or palankeen conveyance, is a certain 
if not a rapid means of transit. Ensconced in a 
palankeen, borne by four natives, who are accompanied 
by four or eight more, to relieve them at brief inter- 
vals, you are carried up the country at the rate of 
something less than three miles an hour. Lying your 



TRAVELLING IN INDIA. 



87 



length along upon a well-stuffed mattrass, covered 
with silk or morocco leather, supported by pillows, 
and having in front of you at the upper end of the 
interior of the palankeen, a shelf and drawer, and 
nettings containing books, a telescope, writing mate- 
rials, biscuits, and a bottle of weak brandy and water, 
you pass over many miles delightfully enough. You 
stop when you please, and at intervals — arranged by 
yourself — you halt at a bungalow, or small building 
on the ground floor, which the Government has con- 
structed for the accommodation of travellers in a 
country where no road-side inn offers shelter to the 
wayfarer. Here an active servant prepares you a 
breakfast, or a simple dinner of curried fowl, while a 
mussalchee will procure you the means of having a re- 
freshing bath, in a room appropriated to such pur- 
poses. 

You may remain, if you like, an entire day at the 
bungalow for the small charge of one rupee; of 
course, paying extra for the meals — a mere trifle. As 
your baggage always accompanies you, in tin boxes, 
covered with waterproof material, and slung across the 
shoulders of bangy tvallalis, as they are called, you 
are enabled to procure a change of linen, to write 
letters of business or friendship, and to while away an 
hour in sketching (if you have a taste and talent for 
drawing) the scenery around you, which is often of a 
very pleasing character. To do them justice, the en- 
gineer officers, who constructed the bungalows, have 
selected the most interesting and elevated sites. 

If a person intends to proceed into the interior by 
dawk, the Post-Master-General at the Presidency 
must receive timely intimation of his purposes, that he 
may give orders to the functionaries along the line of 
route, to order the relays of bearers to be in attendance 
at the time specified. At the same time the intending 
traveller pays to the Post-Master-General the expenses 



88 



TRAVELLING IN INDIA. 



of the trip, and an additional sum, by way of deposit 
for demurrage— that is to say, he offers a sort of gua- 
rantee that, if he does not travel at the rate he at 
first intended, he will make good the sum that has 
.been expended in retaining bearers on the line for his 
special use. 

Dawk travelling is conducted both by night and 
day. At night, a mussalchee runs by the side of the 
palankeen with alighted torch to guide the bearers 
through the jungles— which torch he continually feeds 
from a bottle of oil slung at his waist. To scare away 
wild animals and serpents, and to cheer them on their 
journey, the bearers often keep up a low murmuring 
chorus— one of them calling out a few words of a song 
(often impromptu, and not always complimentary to 
the traveller if he be above the average weight), and 
the remainder taking up the refrain. 

A horse dawk has been established within the last 
few years to run between Calcutta and Delhi. It 
consists of a palankeen on wheels, and will perhaps 
become general before the railways are constructed. 

A more independent, but of course a much slower 
mode of making one's way up the country, is to 
inarch, or rather ride on horseback, accompanied by a 
tent, bap-, and baggage. This plan is unavoidable along 
the roac?s where a dawk has not been established, or 
when an officer proceeds with a detachment of troops. 
Fusing at four or five a.m., the traveller mounts his steed 
and proceeds for about fifteen miles or more, while his 
tent either precedes or follows him. By the time the 
sun is high in the heavens, and his rays become 
intolerable, the tent has been pitched in a mango 
grove, breakfast prepared, the horse picketted and 
groomed, and the traveller refreshed with a bath. 
The day is then passed in shooting, reading, or per- 
haps in a visit to some neighbouring civilian, or 
planter, and bed is sought at an early hour, that the 



TRAVELLING IN INDIA. 



89 



tent may be struck betimes, and conveyed to the next 
appointed stage. 

Short distances are often accomplished by relays of 
horses. Men in India think nothing- of riding" from 
fifty to seventy miles without any other pause than is 
necessary for dismounting from one horse and mount- 
ing another. Sometimes, when the road will admit 
of it, a journey is made in a buggy — a sort of hooded 
cab. On the Bombay side of India there is a regular 
coach, which travels up the ghauts from Panwell, two 
hours' sail from Bombay, but the distance effected is 
very small in comparison to what ought to be accom- 
plished in and for such a country as India.^ 

In speaking of travelling, no reference is necessary 
to journeys on the summit of an elephant or a camel. 
No one having* respect for his bones, would volunta- 
rily adopt a species of locomotion which is invariably 
attended with great pain and fatigue. 



90 THE VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS OF INDIA. 



CHAPTER VII. 



THE VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS OF INDIA. 



The Banian tree — Ganesha — The Peepul — General belief — The 
Sissoo — The Sygiuam — The Talipot^ its uses—The Cocoa-nut^ 
invaluable to the native — Traditions of the mango grove. 

The tropical lands are proverbially ricli in vegetation. 
Nature has lavished upon them all her choicest gifts. 
The most gig-antic trees, the densest forests, the 
broadest leaves, the largest flowers, the most luxurious 
creepers, luscious fruits, nutritious vegetables, herbs 
of overpowering fragrance, simples of inestimable 
efficacy — a pharmacopeia unrivalled. These are the 
characteristics of the spontaneous vegetation of India. 
Nowhere is there such abundance or such infinite 
variety. But man, not content with the free offerings 
of Nature, or anxious to recognise and expand her fer- 
tility, has employed all the resources of art to evolve 
the powers of the soil, and to add to the stores of the 
East the useful and wholesome productions of the 
"West ; while piety has laboured to increase the indi- 
genous offspring of the land, and commerce has de- 
manded a multiplication of those trees which enjoy 



THE VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS OF INDIA. 91 



favour in countries where vegetation is comparatively 
scant. There is nothing for which the sylvan scenery 
of India is more remarkable than the groves of palm 
and mango trees planted all over the empire— the 
former in the vicinity of the coasts, the latter m the 
north-western provinces and Behar. A strong* reli- 
gious feeling influences the Hindoo in these planta- 
tions. He believes that his soul in the next world is 
benefited by the blessings and grateful feelings of 
those of his fellow creatures who, unmolested, eat the 
fruit and enjoy the shade of the trees he has planted 
during 1 his sojourn in this world. The names of the 
ffreatTmen who built the castles, palaces, and tombs at 
Delhi and Agra, have been almost all forgotten, be- 
cause no one enjoys any advantages from them ; but 
the names of those who planted the mango groves are 
still supposed to be remembered by all who eat ot 
their fruit, sit in their shade, and drink of their water, 
from whatever part of the world they come. > 

The most stupendous and remarkable trees in India 
are, the teak, the palm, the banyan, the sissoo, the 
saul, the peepul, the bamboo, and the talipot. 

Of these, for the extent of ground which it covers, 
and the peculiarity of its growth, the banian, or 
Ficus Beligiosa, is the most worthy of notice. It 
has a woody stem, branching to a great height, with 
heart-shaped leaves, ending in acute points. Some of 
the trees are of amazing size, as they are continually 
increasing, and, contrary to most other things m 
animal and vegetable life, they appear to be exempt 
from decay. Every branch from the main body throws 
out its own roots— at first in small tender fibres several 
yards from the ground 5 these continually grow thicker 
until they reach the surface; and there, striking in, 
they increase to large trunks, and become parent 
trees, shooting out new branches from the top ; these 
in time suspend their roots, which, swelling into 



92 THE VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS OF INDIA. 

trunks, produce other branches, and so they continue 
in a state of progression as long as the earth contri- 
butes her sustenance. There are some banian trees 
in India which actually measure several thousand 
feet in circumference, and can afford shade and shelter 
to 8,000 persons. 

The Hindoos hold the banian tree in special venera- 
tion, often assembling beneath its boughs, like ^ the 
Druids of old, to perform ceremonies and sacrifices, 
and not unfrequently placing idols at the foot of the 
stems in a conspicuous place. The god most gene- 
rally honoured with this distinction is Ganesha, the 
sylvan deity, the Pan of the Hindoos, and who is at 
the same time their Mercury an$ patron of letters. 
Rudely carved, he sits in stolid majesty, and receives 
the homage of his devotees in the shape of red ochre, 
flowers, grain, and sweetmeats. In form he resembles 
a short fat man, with "fair round belly," and an 
elephant's head : he has four hands, one of which 
holds a shell, another a chuJira (or quoit), a third a 
club, and the fourth a water-lily : he sits upon a rat; 
he has but one projecting tusk, the other having been 
torn out (so says the mythological tradition) by 
Vishnu, because Ganesha denied him entrance to the 
abode of Seva. Ganesha is not only honoured in 
religious ceremonies, but his protection is invoked by 
travellers setting out on a journey, and no good Hin- 
doos writes a letter or literary work without commenc- 
ing with a salutation to Ganesha. 

The Peepul ( Ficus Indicus)—i$ found in great 
abundance, and, as some suppose, grows spontaneously ; 
assuredly it rises* in most extraordinary places, and 
often to the great detriment of public buildings, 
growing out of the cement which connects stones and 
bricks, °and by the violence of its pressure gradually 
destroying the edifices. 

The branches of the young peepul afford a grate- 



THE VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS OF INDIA. 93 



M shade, and the growth of the tree is, therefore, en- 
couraged by the natives. It makes its appearance by 
the sfdes of the flights of stone steps leading down 
to bowliesy or large wells, above the domes of mosques, 
through the walls of gardens, &c. TNfo Hindoo dares 
and no Christian or Mahomedan will condescend to 
lop off the heads of these young trees, and, if they 
did, it would only put off the evil and inevitable day, 
for such are the vital powers of their roots, when they 
have once penetrated deeply into a building, that they 
will send out their branches again, cut them off as 
often as you may, and carry on their internal attack 
with undiminished vigour. "No wonder," says 
Colonel Sleeman, "that superstition should have con- 
secrated this tree, delicate and beautiful as it is, to the 
gods. The palace, the castle, the temple, and the 
tomb — all those works which man is most proud to 
raise, to spread, and to perpetuate his name— crumble 
to dust beneath her withering grasp. She rises trium- 
phant over them all in her lofty beauty, bearing 
high in air, amidst her light green foliage, fragments 
of°the wreck she has made, to show the nothingness 
of man's efforts." In the very rudest state of society, 
among the woods and hills of India, the people have 
some deity whose power they dread, and whose name 
they invoke when much is supposed to depend upon 
the truth of what one man is about to declare. The 
peepul tree being everywhere sacred to the gods, who 
are supposed to "delight to sit among its leaves and 
listen to the music of their rustling, the deponent 
takes one of these leaves in his hand, and invokes the 
god who sits above him, to crush him, or those dear 
to him, as he crushes the leaf in his hand, if he speaks 
anything but the truth : he then plucks and crushes 
the leaf, and states what he has to say. The large 
cotton-tree is, among the wild tribes of India, the fa- 
vourite seat of gods still more terrible ; because their 



94 THE VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS OF INDIA. 



superintendence is confined exclusively to the neighbour- 
hood, and having- their attention less occupied, they 
can venture to make a more minute scrutiny into the 
conduct of the people immediately around them. 
The peepul is occupied (according to the Hindoos) by 
one or other of the Hindoo triad, the gods of creation, 
preservation, and destruction, who have the affairs of 
the universe to look after, but the cotton and other trees 
are occupied by some minor deities, who are vested with 
a local superintendence over the affairs of a district, or 
perhaps, of a single village. 

The Sissoo yields a wood which possesses a very fine 
grain, and rather handsomely veined. It grows in 
most of the great forests, intermixed with the saul ; 
but in lieu of towering up, with a straight stem, seems 
partial to crooked forms, such as suit it admirably for 
the knees of ships, and for such parts as require the 
grain to follow some particular curve. This wood is 
extremely hard and heavy, of a dark brown, inclining- 
to a purple tint, when polished ; after being properly 
seasoned, it rarely cracks or warps ; nor is it so subject 
as saul to be destroyed by either white ants or river 
worms. The domestic uses of sissoo are chiefly con- 
fined to the construction of furniture, especially chairs, 
tables, tepoys (or tripods), bureaus, bookcases, escri- 
toires, &c, &c, for all which purposes it is peculiarly 
appropriate, with the exception of its being very pon- 
derous. This objection is, however, counterbalanced 
by its great durability, and by the extraordinary 
toughness of the tenons, dovetails, &c, necessarily 
made by the cabinetmaker or joiner. Sissoo is, of late, 
more employed than formerly for the frame, ribs, 
knees, &c, of ships, especially those of great burden ; 
for such it is found to be fully as tough and as durable 
as the best oak. When timbers can be had of this 
wood long enough for the purpose, it is often applied 
for bends, and, indeed, for a portion of the planking or 



THE VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS OF INDIA. 95 

casing- ; but it is very rarely that a plank of ten feet 
can be had free from curve. 

The Sygwam, or teak, affords the best timber for 
building* in whatever branch ; but its dearness prevents 
its general use, especially since naval architecture has 
been so much an object of speculation at Calcutta. 

Those who build houses of the first class, rarely fail 
to build all their terraces upon teak joists; both 
because they possess superior strength, and that they 
are far less likely to be attacked by the white ants. 
This has been attributed to the quantity of tannin con- 
tained in teak wood, which some have asserted to be a 
perfect preventive or antidote. There is in teak wood 
evidently some property, hitherto occult, that repels 
the white ant, at least for some years, but which is 
doubtless diminished by exposure to the air, as we find 
that very old teak timbers became rather more subject 
to depredation than new ones. 

The greater part of the teak used in Bengal and at 
Madras, is imported from the Pegu coast in immense 
beams, and in spars, planks, &c, of all sizes. It is by 
no means unusual to see the squared timbers measuring 
from forty to fifty feet in length, and averaging from 
fifteen to twenty inches in diameter. 

The Tal-ipot, or Talpat tree, is common in the 
island of Ceylon, and on the coasts of Malabar and 
Coromandel. It grows very straight and lofty, from 
eighty to a hundred feet, and has a large tuft of im- 
mense leaves at the top. The wood is seldom put to 
any other use than that of rafters for buildings. Near 
the root of the tree the wood is black, very hard, and 
veined with yellow, but the inside is nothing more 
than pith,— for the sake of which it is sometimes cut 
down, as the natives make use of it for food, beating it 
in a mortar till it becomes like flour, when they mix 
it with water for dough, and bake it. It bears no 
fruit till the last year of its life. When the flower, 



96 THE VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS OF INDIA. 



which is encased in a sheath (like that of a cocoa-nut), 
is ripe, the sheath bursts with a loud noise, and emits 
so disagreeable, a smell, that the people sometimes cut 
it down, not being* able to live near it. The fruit is 
round, and about the size of an apple. It contains 
two nuts. The most curious and useful part of this 
tree are its leaves. These hang down from the top, 
and are nearly circular, and very large — one of them 
being sufficient to cover fifteen or twenty men. The 
leaf folds up in plaits, like a fan, and is cut into tri- | 
angular pieces, which are used everywhere as umbrellas 
for protection against the sun or rain. The leaf, in \ 
strips, is used in schools to teach children to write upon, 
and as every letter is cut into it by a sharp pointed 
style, the writing is indelible, and continues legible as 
long as the leaf itself lasts. The tents of the Kandian 
kings and others, in time of war, were made of these 
leaves, and hence were called tal-ge, tal-pat houses. 
They used to carry with them great quantities o these 
leaves, already prepared, and cut ftito proper fshape, 
and thus the labour of erecting a tent was very small. 
They are also used to cover carts, palankeens, or any- 
thing that it is necessary to keep from the sun or rain 
in travelling*. 

The Cocoa-nut tree abounds in the peninsula of 
India, the coast of Burmah, and the west, north, and 
east parts of the island of Ceylon. It is a tree of im- 
mense value to the people and to its possessors. 

The tree begins to bear when eight or nine years of 
age. 

Nearly all the domestic wants of the Hindoo and 
the Cingalese can be supplied by the cocoa-nut tree. > 
He can build his house entirely of it. The walls and 
doors are made of cadjans (the leaves plaited), the 
roof is covered with the same, the beams, rafters, &c, 
are made of the trunk. The builder needs no nails, as 
he can use the coir rope made from the outside husk. 



THE VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS 01? INDIA. 97 



If lie wants a spout he hollows the trunk, split in two. 
It also supplies him with spoons, ladles, and cups, 
pans and drinking vessels, hookah howls, lamps, and 
water-buckets ; the refuse of the kernel, after the oil 
is expressed, serves for food for cows and pigs; the 
milk from the kernel is used in his food. In short, if 
a man has a few cocoa-nut trees in his garden, he will 
never starve. 

Arrack, a strong spirit, resembling whiskey, is made 
from toddy, the juice of the flower ; and brooms are 
made from the ribs of the leaflets. 

There are many curious customs, traditions, and 
superstitions, among the Hindoos respecting trees. In 
planting the mango groves, it is a rule that the trees 
shall be as far from each other as will prevent their 
branches from ever meeting. " Plant trees, but let 
them not touch." Yet the marriage of trees is a very 
common custom. Neither the man who plants a grove 
nor his wife can taste of the fruit of a mango tree, 
until he has married one of the trees to some other 
tree, commonly the tamarind, that grows near it in the 
same grove. A great deal of pomp and ceremony 
attends these vegetable unions ; and, of course, occa- 
sion is taken by the Brahminical priests to make the 
ceremony one of profit to themselves. The larger the 
number of Brahmins fed at the marriage, the greater 
the glory of the proprietor of the grove. Colonel 
Sleeman relates that, on his visiting the grove of an old 
man, he asked how many he had feasted; and the 
man answered, with a sigh, only one hundred and 
fifty. " He showed me the mango tree which had 
acted the part of bridegroom on one occasion, but the 
bride had disappeared from his side. < And where is 
the bride, the tamarind V < The only tamarind I had 
in the grove died/ said the old man, 'before we could 
bring about the wedding; and I was obliged to get a 
jasmine for a wife for my mango. I planted it here, 



98 THE VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS OF INDIA. 



so that we might, as required, cover both bride and 
bridegroom under one canopy during the ceremonies ; 
but after the marriage was over the gardener neg- 
lected her, and she pined away and died.' 'And 
what made you prefer the jasmine to all other trees 
after the tamarind ? 9 ' Because it is the most cele- 
brated of all trees, save the rose/ 'And why not 
have cliosen the rose for a wife V 'Because no one 
every heard of a marriage between the rose and the 
mango ; while they take place every day between the 
mango and the cliwnhaelee, jasmine.' " 

In Upper India are many large forest trees, called 
Jadlup, or liulpa briksJia, having a soft silvery bark, 
and scarcely any leaves. It is affirmed and believed 
by the natives, that the name of the god Bam, and his 
consort Seeta, are written by the hand of God upon 
all. Assuredly, Europeans have seen the name of that 
incarnation of Vishnu written on many hdpas in San- 
scrit characters, but though there is a softness in the 
impression, no one is disposed to believe that the writ- 
ing is supernatural. 

In the north-west provinces the people have a cu- 
rious idea that the shade of the tamarind tree is un- 
wholesome to man and beast, and for this reason they 
are seldom planted in. the groves where caravans are 
accustomed to halt. 



COMMERCE, COINS ; WEIGHTS, MEASURES, ETC 99 



CHAPTER VIII. 



COMMERCE, COINS, WEIGHTS, MEASURES, 'Am. 



Articles of export and import— The carrying trade— Exchange- 
Bullion— The system of id eights — The Banyan — Docks— Com- 
mercial Office Establishments — The shipping for a twelve- 
month. 

It can hardly be expected that, within the compass 
of one small volume consecrate to a general account 
of India, such a description can he given of the com- 
merce of the country, as would satisfy the wishes and 
expectations of those who may direct their attention 
to the country with mercantile views. Some thirty 
years ago or more, Mr. Milburn, an accomplished 
merchant, deemed the subject of Indian commerce 
worthy a quarto volume, and since then the establish- 
ment of a free trade has opened up so many new 
sources of wealth and speculation to the enterprising 
trader, that three such volumes would hardly convey 
an adequate idea of the resources of the empire, and 
the extent of its imports and exports. 

It would be difficult, in describing the produce oi 



100 COMMERCE, COINS, WEIGHTS, MEASURES, ETC. 

India, which constitutes her exports, to distinguish 
very minutely hetween what has been grown and ma- 
nufactured within the vast continent, and what has 
been conveyed thither from the Malayan Peninsula, 
the islands of the Eastern Archipelago, China, Persia, 
&c, tor the purpose of being reshipped. An enume- 
ration alone can be given of the articles which are 
brought to England and carried to other lands, leaving 
to persons interested in such inquiries to distinguish 
between the ahsolute offspring of the soil of India, and 
the goods of which her ports have temporarily become 
the empona. 

According, then, to the returns, to which access has 
been obtained, the grand exports from India consist of 
indigo, sugar, cotton, saltpetre, opium, silk, rice, 
pepper, betel nuts, coffee, teak timber, tobacco, drugs, 
dye stuffs, sugar-candy, cocoa-nut oil, cochineal, coir, 
wax, gmger, cowries (shells), shawls, tamarinds, talc, 
chillies : all these are undoubtedly the produce of India 
proper. Of the following very many may he from 
India, but the most part are yielded by the islands and 
coasts m her vicinity and the empire of China :— Tea 
ivory, lac, gold and silver filigree work, cornelians' 
ghee, grain, oils, putchock, seeds, soap, horses, sarda, 
cassia, turmeric, ambergris, Colombo root, elephants' 
teeth, fisn maws, sandal wood, zedoary, coarse piece 
goods, nankeen, dried fruits, tortoise shell, cinnamon, 
arrack, anca nuts, wild honey, precious stones, cop- 
peras, pearls, carpets, dholl, flax, hemp, hides, horns, 
black salt, copper, tin, lead, wood-oil, earth-oil, dam- 
mer, silver, naphtha, birds' nests, timber, rattans, o-old 
dust, camphor, gum benjamin, argus' feathers, kajTput 
oil, cloves, nutmegs, brimstone, birds of paradise, gum 
copal, civet, salt, rose water, ottar of roses, sapan wood, 
utenague, shrimp caviar, cones, dragons' blood, borax, 
and a multitude of drugs and cotton piece goods of 
rude manufacture. 



COMMERCE; COINS, WEIGHTS, MEASURES, ETC. 101 



The imports of India comprise every single product 
of Europe that can be calculated to improve the com- 
fort or promote the luxury of man in a civilized state. 
The raw cotton received from her is returned, after it 
has passed through the looms of Manchester, Preston, 
and Paisley, in millions of yards. Hundreds of ships 
from England, the Clyde, from France, and the 
United States, visit her ports annually, laden with 
hardware and cutlery, with wines, ales, hams, cheeses, 
woollens, rich glass manufactures, books, bronze arti- 
cles, steam engines, printing presses, varieties of iron 
and brass machines, paper, hats, carriages, horses, 
furniture— in short, every production of nature, every 
offspring of the handiwork of man, excepting such 
articles as are only adapted to the severest frosty re- 
p-ions, are carried to India. . 

The carrying trade between Europe and India is 
conducted in vessels of all dimensions, from 300 to 
1,500 tons. The steamers which ply round the Cape 
and between the Red Sea of India carry but a small 
amount of cargo. They are chiefly adapted to the 
transport of passengers and packets, and only convey 
a few cases of light goods, books, &a, for which a very 
heavy freight is demanded. The trade between China 
and India, is carried in ships of considerable burthen, 
excepting that part of it which concerns the opium 
ptowii in India. For this trade, light, fast-sailing 
clippers are employed. The Malabar coasting _ trade 
is borne in lar^e vessels of rude construction, high at 
the stern and low at the prow, called pattamars and 
buo-o-alows, the latter of which likewise carry the pro- 
duce of India to the Arabian and Persian gulfs, and vice 
versa. Along the Coromandel coast to the ports ot 
Calcutta, Arracan, Chittagong, and other Peaces to the 
eastward, two-masted vessels, denominated dhomes 
and grabs, are used. The river traffic of India is en- 
trusted to boats of all forms and dimensions, and a 



102 COMMERCE, COINS, WEIGHTS, MEASURES, ETC. 

Teat variety of names. On the Ganges a few iron 
steamers ply, but the cargoes despatched in them rarely 
consist of anything beyond the supplies of European 
goods required by the residents and regimental messes 
in the interior. 

The greater part of the transactions between Eng- 
land and India are conducted by bills of exchange, 
supported by bills of lading of the goods transmitted. 
The coinage of India consists of rupees, annas, and 
pice : sixteen annas go to a rupee, and three pysa, or 
pice, to an anna. The rupee is of silver, about the 
size of a florin, and is divided into halves and quarters 
Sixteen rupees constitute a gold mohur, but the con- 
tinual exportation of bullion and the practice among 
the natives of melting down gold coins, and converting 
them into personal ornaments, has caused the total 
extinction of the coin. It is now merely nominal. 
In transactions on the coast and with poorer classes of 
natives, small shells, called cowries, are partially made 
use of for fractional payments, but their value is sub- 
ject to continual fluctuations, and they are now nearly 
superseded by the copper currency. 

In the conversion of the rupee into the equivalent 
currency of other nations in drawing bills of exchange, 
the fluctuation of the relative value of the precious 
metals biter se, is taken into consideration, from the 
circumstance of gold being in some, and silver in 
others, the legal medium of circulation. It is also 
necessary to take account of the mint charge for coin- 
ing at each place, which adds a fictitious value to the 
local coin. The par of exchange is, for these reasons, 
a somewhat ambiguous term, requiring to be distin- 
guished under two more definite denominations. 1st, 
The intrinsic par, which represents that case in which 
the pure metal contained in the parallel denominations 
of coins is equal. 2nd, The commercial par, or that case 
in which the current value of the coin at each place 



COMMERCE, COINS, WEIGHTS, MEASURES, ETC. 103 



(after deducting' the seignorage leviable for coinage) 
is equal ; or, in other words, " two sums of money of 
different countries are commercially at par, while they 
czn purchase an equal quantity of the same kind of 

pure metal." ^ 

Thus, if silver be taken from India to .England, it 
must be sold to a bullion merchant at the market 
price, the proprietor receiving payment in gold (or 
notes convertible into it). The London mint is closed 
ao-ainst the importer of silver, which metal has not, 
therefore, a minimum value in the English market, 
fixed by the mint price, although it has so m Cal- 
cutta, where it may always be converted into com at 
a, charge of two per cent. On the other hand, if a 
remittance in gold be made from India to England, 
its out-turn there is known and fixed. The new Cal- 
cutta qolcl mohur fluctuates as considerably in India as 
that of silver does in England; the natural tendency 
of commerce being to bring to an equilibrium the 
operations of exchange in the two metals. 

The exchange between England and India has, 
therefore, a twofold expression; for silver, the price 
of the sicca rupee in shillings and pence $ for gold, 
the price of the sovereign in rupees. 

The system of British India weights and measures 
is founded upon the principle of making the maundy or 
highest nominal weight, equal to one hundred Eng- 
lish trov pounds; and thirty-five seers equal to seventy- 
two pounds avoirdupois, thus establishing a simple 
connection, void of fractions, between the two English 
metrical scales and that of India. The unit oi the 
British India ponderary system is called the tola. It 
weighs 180 grains, English troy weight. From it 
upwards are derived the heavy weights, viz., the 
ehittack, the seer, and maund:— 



104 COMMERCE; COWS, WEIGHTS; MEASURES, ETC. 



lbs. oz. dwts. grs. 

The maund is equal to ... 100 trov. 

The seer „ ... 2 6 „ 

Thechittack „ . , . 1 17 12 „ 

The tola „ ... 7 12 „ 

Goldsmiths and jewellers use smaller weights, such 
as the masha, ruttee, and dha?i. One masha is equiva- 
lent to fifteen grains, and one ruttee to 1*875. * The 
dlian only weighs one quarter of a grain. 

In the straits of Malacca and Manilla, and in the 
island of Ceylon, the Spanish dollar forms the chief 
currency : but English money and rupees are never- 
theless a legal tender, the rupee bein^ valued at 
U. lid. 

Bank-notes issued by the banks of India, are current 
throughout the country, but they form comparatively 
a small part of the circulation. Bills of exchange, 
called hoondees, are employed as a means of remit- 
tance from one part of the country to another, and are 
obtained from the bankers and shroffs, who are found 
scattered all over the country. The rest of the paper- 
money consists of Treasury notes, bills issued by the 
civil officers of Government for equivalent, to facilitate 
the remittable operations of their own servants and 
others. The most secure investment of savings is 
in the Government paper, or promissory notes which 
are issued, bearing interest at four or five per cent, per 
annum according to the necessity of the Government, 
and the state of the money-market at the moment of 
opening a loan. All trust property, all the estates of 
intestate persons, are required to be converted into 
Government paper. It is the only security recognised 
by the authorities, and any amount of money can be 
obtained, at a reasonable interest, on the deposit of 
such paper (which may be compared to English Ex- 
chequer bills) when parties are not inclined to sell out 
their stock. 



COMMERCE; COINS. WEIGHTS, MEASURES, ETC. 105 

A considerable portion of the capital employed in 
the India trade, is supplied by English merchants. 
They depute members of their firms, or confidential 
clerks to proceed to the Presidencies to establish com- 
mercial houses, and there to purchase and transmit 
produce to England, China, Australia, and the East 
Indian Archipelago, and to obtain a market tor Eng- 
lish produce and manufactures. These gentlemen are 
assisted in duties so new to them by a class ot natives 
called Banyans. 

The term Banyan implies a Hindoo merchant, 
shopkeeper, or confidential cashier and broker. The 
term is used in Bengal to designate the native who 
manages the money concerns of the European, and 
sometimes serves him as an interpreter. < 

At Madras the same description of person is called a 
diibash, a corruption of dwi bashi. one who can speak 
two lano*uages. Some banyans usurp the designation 
of dewan, which should imply an extensive delegated 
power: that office, under the Emperors of Hmdostan, 
ond even now in the courts of Lucknow, Hyderabad, 
&c being confidential, and never bestowed but on 
persons in high favour, The banyans are invariably 
Hindoos, possessing, in general, very large property, 
with most extensive credit and influence. So much is 
this the case that Calcutta was, some years ago, abso- 
lutely under the control of about twenty or thirty 
banyans, who managed every concern in which they 
could find means to make a profit. It is incon- 
ceivable what property was in their hands, i-hey 
were the ostensible agents in every line of business, 
placing their dependents in the several departments 
over which themselves had obtained dominion. If a 
contract was to be made with Government by any gen- 
tlemen not in the Company's service, the banyans be- 
came the securities, under the condition of receiving a 
per-centage, and of appointing their friends to such 



106 COMMERCE, COINS, WEIGHTS, MEASURES, ETC. 



duties as might control the principal and save them- 
selves from loss. When a person in the service of 
the Company was desirous of deriving benefit from 
some contract, in the disposal of which he had a vote, 
and which, consequently, he could not obtain in his 
own name, then the banyan became the principal, 
and the donor either received a share or derived ad- 
vantage from loans, &c, answering his purpose equally 
well. The same person frequently was banyan to 
several European gentlemen, all of whose concerns 
were, of course, accurately known to him, and thus 
became the subject of conversation at those meetings 
the banyans of Calcutta invariably held, and do yet 
hold, after the active business of the day has been 
adjusted. 

A banyan invariably goes attended by several under- 
ling sircars, hircarahs, &c. He, to a certain degree 
rules the office | entering it generally with little cere- 
mony, making a slight obeisance, and never divesting 
himself of his slippers — a privilege which, in the eyes 
of the natives, at once places him on a footing of 
equality with his employers. Of late years, however, 
the power of the banyan has dimininished greatly; 
for, if we except a few large concerns, such as bank- 
ing houses, and the principal merchants, who, having 
valuable cargoes on hand, are each under the necessity 
of retaining one of these people, for the purpose of 
obtaining cash to make up payments, or to furnish ad- 
vances to indigo factors, &c, no one troubles himself 
with a banyan. It cannot, however, be denied that 
many speculations are carried on by the aid of ban- 
yans, which, but for the strength of their resources, 
could never have been attempted. We owe our pre- 
sent extended trade in the fabrics of Dacca, &c. ; in 
the sugar of the western and northern districts ; in 
indigo throughout the country, and numerous other 
branches of commerce, to the support given by this 



COMMERCE, COINS, WE1CHTS, MEASURES, ETC. 107 

class to such gentlemen as appeared to them likely 
to succeed. . . T . 

All the produce of the world which reaches India is 
deposited in extensive warehouses called gochwns, or 
in bonded warehouses. The cotton, which is brought 
from the interior of the country, is carried to loity 
buildings where ponderous screws are established, and 
is there screwed into bales of a compact form, previous 
to its shipment. At two of the Presidencies, Calcutta 
and Bombay, are dockyards. Those at Bombay are 
wet docks, where some of the finest British men-ol- 
war have been constructed of the teak 01 the Malabar 
or Tenasserim coasts, each vessel often bringing home 
a duplicate of herself in the form of cargo, to be put 
too-ether on her arrival in England. 

Every mercantile house in India has an establish- 
ment of clerks, chiefly natives, who write English 
correctly, and keep accounts upon the English system 
with surprising accuracy. The salaries ot the clerks 
(haboos and sircars, keranies and purwes, as they are 
called at the several Presidencies) are much lower 
than they are in this country, the highest salary rarely 
exceeding 15Z. per mensem, and the great majority 
averaging 31. to 51 per month. Attached to the othces 
of business also are a number of peons or sepoys, 
to. run upon errands, and convey chits or notes, ot 
which the circulation is immense in a country where 
Europeans cannot move about much, and have no 
recognised Exchanges or other places of rendezvous. 

We cannot close this chapter without submitting a, 
statement of the amount of shipping which has sailed 
to and from India during the past twelvemonth. It 
will afford some idea of the extent of the trade carried 
on between the limits of the East India Company s 
charter : — • 



108 COMMERCE, COINS, WEIGHTS, MEASURES, ETC. 



To 

From T T ,° T . To Bristol To the T , , 

London. Liverpool, and Clyde lotal 

Calcutta .... 195 85 5 8 <>93 

Madras ..... 46 7 ~53 

Bombay 31 48 4 8 91 

China ..... 87 27 3 117 

Ceylon .... 53 53 

Singapore and Penang 27 11 1 39 

Phillipine Islands .7 2 9 

Java and Sumatra .10 10 

Arabia 2 o 

New South Wales, > 1QQ 

New Zealand, &c. J 133 6 1 140 

Mauritius .... 71 15 20 25 13J 

Cape of Good Hope .37 2 1 40 

This is an increase of forty vessels over the pre- 
ceding- year. The increase in the number of vessels 
which cleared outwards is still greater. It amounts to 
155 vessels, comprising* a tonnage of 129,375 tons, 
and within the quarter ending- 31st March, there has 
been an increase of 181 outward, and 58 inward 
vessels. The return of vessels does not include the 
steamers, of which some thirty or forty reach India 
with light goods and small packages, in the course of 
the year. 



THE FRUITS OF INDIA. 



109 



CHAPTER IX. 



THE FRUITS OF INDIA. 



TU Pine-appU-Tke "*«*W^_^^J|fc 
vlum—The Pomegranate — The Melon J.m ™ u T} 
P pZtain--The Pumplenose-Tlie Papaya-The Loquat-The 
Jack—Tlie Leecliee, <&c> 

Nature, as if anticipating the aMnen^ of milUons 
of Hindoos from the use of animal food, nas oe~n 
wonderfoUy liberal of her snpply of vegetable diet. 
No part o? the world is so fruitM of those , produc^ 
which are at once nutritious and agreeable, ±-yexy 
S t and vegetable known to mild, and even cold 
^Ls> produced on the hills or the plains o India 
ana in addition to these, vast varieties, peculia, r to the 
tropics, grow in luxurious abundance. To enumerate 
them all would be impossible within the limit* . ot 
this volume, and the quality of m ^y would be d^- 
cult of description without the aid of tbe horticultuiist 
and the natu/alist. Let it suffice, that the fertile soil 
of India yields mangoes, pine-apples, plantains pome- 
granates, pumplenoses, jacks, custard-apples, leechees 
guavas, melons, oranges, lemons, limes, grapes, sour 



110 



THE FRUITS OF INDIA. 



sops, almonds, gooseberries, strawberries, tamarinds, 
plums, figs, dates, citrons, loquats, potatoes, cabbages, 
cucumbers, yams, brinjalls, peas, beans, artichokes, 
salads, celery, beetroot, cauliflower, nollcoll, mangos- 
teens, &c 9 &c, most of which, at some time or other, 
are found upon the tables of Europeans. 

The Pine-apple {bromelia ananas) is called bv the 
natives anarush. As the name of the fruit is Persian, 
and there being no Sanscrit one, it is supposed to 
be an imported fruit in India, though common all 
over the country, where the climate is not too severe 
for its growth in the open air; a green-house, hot- 
house, or ftwZ-house for plants or fruits, being yet 
entirely unknown in India, even amongst Europeans. 
The common bazaar pine of India is a very inferior 
fruit to the English hot-house pine, and even to those 
which have been raised with care and under shade 
(which they seem to prefer), in India. Those of the 
eastern islands are very far superior, the commonest 
Malay, or Javanese anana being equal, it is said, to 
the best in India, — except, perhaps, those of Goa and 
other Portuguese establishments on the western coast, 
where, as in the case of the mango and some other 
fruits, we still find traces of the care which the early 
Portuguese colonists bestowed on them. This is pro- 
bably owing to peculiarities of soil and climate, as 
well as care ; though the Portuguese, like the Dutch, 
were good gardeners, and paid attention to horticul- 
ture, which the English, hitherto, cannot be said to 
have done. It is said, and with much justice, that 
no fruit in India requires to be eaten more cautiously 
than this, both by new comers and new residents- 
It is accused, and with some considerable truth, of 
occasioning very severe and dangerous attacks of 
pseudo-cholera and dysentery. To the newly arrived 
Europeans, especially of the lower orders, it 'is indeed 
a tempting fruit, and its powerful acid and tough 



THE FRUITS OF INDIA. 



flesh mav often make it dangerous to them. An 
exceedingly beautiful flax, of great fineness and 

plant° by simple maceration and beating. In the 
Philippine Islands, dresses equal to the finest muslin 
arl woven from it, and embroidered with extraordmary 
taste • and though expensive, they last for many years, 
Sing in duration, colour, and beauty, equal to fine 

Custard-apple (annona squamosa) is 
called by the natives, ata, the fruit of a small tree 
wnieh grows about fifteen feet high in all parts of 
India. The leaves are smooth and soft, and about 
three inches long, tapering at both ends. The fruit 
is nearly round, with a rough outside about the size 
of an orange. When ripe, it is easily burst I is 
filled with a soft white substance, of a sweet taste, and 
separable into small portions, each containing a small 
black seed. It bears once a-year. The fruits are ripe 
in July, and are much sought after. Perhaps there is 
no Indian fruit about which we hear so many various 
opinions expressed by Europeans. To some it is the 
most delicious fruit in the country while to others its 
flavour seems not merely a mawkish sweetness, buo 
almost nauseating. In a word, it is rare to meet two 
persons who agree in their opinion of the custard- 
apple. Care should be taken when eating it not to 
scrape off with the spoon the part which adheres to 
the outside scales of the fruit; for this certainly will, 
if frequently repeated, cause a smart inflammatory 
sore throat; and the finer the fruit the more liable it 
is to cause this. The part which surrounds the seeds, 
and which adheres to them, should alone be eaten. 
The kernels of the seeds are also poisonous, though 
the seeds are frequently swallowed whole without any 
ill effects. In countries where it meets with peculiar 
soils and careful cultivation, as in the Mauritius and 



112 



THE FRUITS OF INDIA. 



the Eastern islands, the ata attains a very large size, at 
least double that of the largest in India, and its 
flavour is generally improved ; this last difference 
may be observed here, and indeed with many fruits 
in all countries; the largest sized are generally the 
best flavoured. There is much uncertainty as to 
whence this fruit, and its congener, the annona reticu- 
lata, or sour-sop of the West Indies, were origi- 
nally derived ; it has been supposed that both were 
brought from Spanish or Portuguese America, and 
thus propagated through their Asiatic dominions, and 
to China ; though, from its abundance in China and 
Cochin China, it may equally have been obtained from 
those countries. It is probable that the Portuguese 
settlements on the eastern coast of Africa may have 
furnished it on the one side and China on the other; 
but if the truth be told, there is but little or nothing 
known of what are the peculiarities of the various 
kinds of this and many other fruits, which are, how- 
ever, well worthy of more attention and study than 
they have hitherto obtained from us. The annona 
reticulata is said to be indigenous in the mountainous 
country of South America, and the absence of any 
Sanscrit name for the fruit is evidence enough that it 
is of foreign introduction, though now the commonest 
fruit in India. ) 

The Mango (fruit of the mangifera Indica), or as 
the natives call it, aum, is a rich fruit, of a bright 
orange-coloured pulp, and a coat of orange or green, 
intermingled with a red bloom. There are in India so 
many sorts and varieties of this rich fruit, which, in 
fact, may be called, from its abundance, the Indian 
apple, that it would take a volume to describe them. 
As a mere tree it is valuable, being of not very slow 
growth, and affording by its dense, dark shade, the 
most grateful shelter from " the traveller's enemy" — 
the sun. Its wood is most extensively used, and, in 



THE FRUITS OF INDIA. H3 



fact, the planks supply, for a large part of India, the 
uses of fir plank in Europe, and when carefully pre- 
served by paint, it lasts many years The fruits, m 
their season, are so abundant in all the bazaars that the 
cows are often regaled with them, and always with the 
stones, which they crunch, apparently with great de- 
lio-ht, A curious fact is, that in remote villages neai 
extensive forest tracks, the bears, at the season of the 
fruit, are known to invade the mango topes, and to take 
possession of them till they have devoured all the 
fruit, in spite of all the efforts of the villagers to drive 
them out ! The finest mangoes on the Bengal side ot 
India are said to be those of Malda ; though there 
are certainly some in the neighbourhood ot Calcutta 
eoual, or superior to them. The finest m all India are 
said to be those of Goa, where they have been culti- 
vated bv the Portuguese. Until of late years, how- 
ever little, or no attention was paid to the sorts planted, 
or, at all events, it was rarely thought, by the natives 
at least, worth the trouble or expense of sending tor 
e-ood kinds; the topes, indeed, being as oiten planted 
as an act of piety, to afford shade, as for the fruit 
which he who planted rarely expected to taste. (*ood 
o-rafts, and these upon good stocks,are now more sought 
after, especiallv in the neighbourhood of large towns, 
where a few mango trees, if bearing choice fruit, are 
valuable property. Perhaps nothing can show more 
strongly what the mango may become by careiul cul- 
tivation, than the fact, that at the plantation of Black 
River, in the Isle of France, no less than twelve 
varieties, of the most exquisite flavour, ot sizes trom 
a laro-e apple to that of a man's head, some almost 
without stones, have been obtained by the care ana 
attention of a long series of years. The mango m 
India is eaten in every possible form ; and an exten- 
sive trade is carried on in the young green and acid 
fruits, which, being dried in the sun, are sold m all tne 



114 THE FRUITS OF INDIA. 

bazaars as a favourite condiment for curries. The crop 
of this fruit is very uncertain, as the prevalence of 
fogs at the time of flowering-, drought, or storms, will 
often destroy a large crop in a few hours. 

The Egg-plum (ziziphus jujuba) is called by the 
natives, hair. Of this fruit there are several varieties. 
Originally from Western India and Persia, it is now 
naturalized in all the gardens about Calcutta, and in 
some of the larger towns. The inferior and hedge- 
sorts are met with all over India. The common wild 
Jrind much resembles in shape, colour, flavour, and size,, 
an unripe crab-apple, and one would almost suppose 
that from it a good cider might be made*. The better 
and fine sorts are of the flavour of an inferior apple, or 
wild plum. They are eaten in large quantities by 
natives of India, by whom the fruit, in all its states, is 
very highly esteemed, not only when green and ripe, 
but also when dried and preserved in various ways. 
The best produce of the wild tree, however, is not its 
fruit, but the strong and durable silk (tusser) which it 
produces. The trees, even in the midst of the towns, 
are often seen with numbers of worms upon them ; and 
in the districts where the silk is an object of culture, 
the moths are bred from the cocoons, and the worms 
fed upon the leaves like silk-worms. They are, how- 
ever, kept in close baskets, being very active, and 
crawling away fast, if left on open spots. The great 
enemies to the culture are crows and other birds, and 
ants, which devour the young caterpillars in all the 
stages of their growth. 

Pomegranate (Punica granattwn), the Hindostanee 
word for which is dalim. From Spain to Persia, and 
from Persia to China, the pomegranate is held in high 
repute, not only as a delicious, cooling, and highly 
wholesome fruit, but as a remedy, a principal ingre- 
dient in many drinks, sherbets, and sweetmeats ; and, 
finally, as a source of allusions for lovers, poets, war- 



THE FRUITS OF INDIA. 115 

iters, and orators. In inter-tropical India, except at 
coiSderable elevations, it is rarely found of a fine 
S S itv beL mostly not of the sweet kind, but of the 
rSeco3 g even y stnng r t as the frrul 
more to the common wild kind. It is an oDjeci ; 01 
Zch care and attention in the south of Europe and 
Barban both as a fruit, as a flowering plant, and as 
mSnSwfor garden hedges and covering ot walls in 
esXr i oSething between the espalier and the 
creeiei This it is to a very considerable height and 
pxS its numerous branches forming a close covering, 
gffiSKt flowers and f^^^Z 
obiect of (rreat beauty, and even of value m some 
Smtions where the flowers and fruit are al saleable 
to he diwgS or the dyers. The bark of its root is 
aC theie 8 ! no doubt, an invaluable remedy against 
that Xtfully severe disease, the tape-worm, which, 
lete tlie LLledge of it, had baffled, both in India 
and Europe, all the skill of physicians. 

Th^ Melon, ot foonti.-Oi melons there are many 
varies in India, but there are few of the Bengal 
Stfwor* eating; for to>««f>lJ 
northern or north-western provinces, wheie the •t'eisian. 
Td Affghan conquerors have brought some good kinds 
h veV ^different. In inter-tropical India the best 
melons, most immediately degenerate into a sort of 
half water-melon. A few successful attempts have 
heen made, with great care and attention, to raise fine 
h XZoured mflons from seed obtained from Eng- 
land, France, and Affghanistan ; but it is yet only bj 
a succession of fresh seed that good ones can be ob- 
tained, and the care and cost are such, that hitherto 
there seems little chance of counting the melon , of Pei- 
sia, Affghanistan, or Europe amongst the Indian faults 
The water-melon in some parts of India attains to a 
monstrous size. Those of Agra which are c« 
on the sandy flats left by the subsiding waters of the 



116 



THE FKUITS OF INDIA, 



Jumna, are famous ; and stories of them are standard 
jokes of approved currency in those parts. On the 
coast they are also considered to attain " great respect- 
ability ; " and, in short, good water-melons are pretty 
common all over India, and they are very highly 
esteemed by the natives and by many Europeans. 
The foonti, or phootee, as it is called by the Bengalees, 
has a strong melon scent, but very little of the taste, 
and less of the perfume of the true melon. To some 
Europeans, and to most natives, however, it is an 
acceptable fruit, at least as a change, during the short 
time that it is in season, and in great demand for the 
various preparations, such as sherbets, and the like, 
into which it enters. It is like all the tribe, considered 
as cooling, and even medicinal, and no doubt justly so. 

The Guava, called in Hindustani, soopri am, is a 
fruit of the psidium pomiferum and pyriferum. The 
fruit is usually thought to be originally from the West 
Indies, but it is certain that there is more than one 
African, and several Chinese and Cochin-Chinese spe- 
cies or varieties, both of the edible and wild sorts. 
These may, it is true, have been carried to China by 
the early voyagers, and India may have received hers 
from the coasts of Africa, with which, long before 
Europeans visited her shores, she held a steady inter- 
course. The most remarkable evidence of its being of 
foreign introduction in India, is that it has, we believe, 
no Sanscrit name. Thence we suppose it, like tobacco^ 
to have been brought, perhaps about the same time. 
The facility with which this fruit is propagated from 
its numerous fertile seeds, of which the hard shell 
resists insects and the other destructive influences for 
a very long period, renders it one of the most com- 
mon in India. The strong flavour of the common 
sorts is usually found disagreeable to newly arrived 
Europeans, but to this custom reconciles ; and the 
finer sorts, of which one, the psidium microphylla, or 



THE FRUITS OF INDIA. ilf 

trae West Indian sort, has the flavour of the rasp- 
berry; and another, a large and very rich kind, has 
scarcely any of the strong taste of the bazaar gua- 
Wa There are some very fine varieties amongst the 
Malay Islands; for with the Malays and Chinese, as 
the natives of India, this, like all high-flavoured 
fruits is a favourite. By Europeans it is more genei - 
K Sewed in wine, and for. the well known 
felly made from it, when much of its flavour disappears. 
'The leaves of the tree are somewhat aromatic, and 
much used in the Eastern Islands medicinally, or as a 
SSfc* for the betel-leaf. The wood of the o d 
trees is exceeding close-grained and I tough and^n 
some deoTee resembles boxwood. It is mucn usea 
amonost^the natives of India for gun-stocks as it 
take* a good polish, and is rarely known to split with 
heat, or fracture from blows. _ 

The Plantain (musa varachsiaca), called Dy tne 
natives Ma. The varieties of the plant *mm India 
are innumerable both as to sizeand taste. With re- 
spect to size, there are the diminutive chumpa which 
So-bt be clasped by "an alderman's^ thumb-ring, 
and the creat Dacca plantain, which is nine or ten 
niches long, and proportionably thick. Indian plan- 
tains, however, are out dwarfs compared to the great 
Madagascar ones, which are as large as a man s fore- 
arm- and those, even, are small, compared to a sort 
pied in the'mountains of the Phillipine Islands, of 
which a single fruit is said to .be a load for a man! 
As to quality, there are some of the wild kinds which, 
fays Roxburgh, are "not even fit for a ™nkey to 
eat,"andoth°ers, of the cultivated sorts, of which tne 
flavour approaches to that of the richest pear, borne 
also, and those are in great demand amongst the 
natives, require, like potatoes, to be boiled or oas,«d 
on the embers, before they are eatable, though many 
of them become excellent. Of this kind are ah the 



118 



THE FRUITS OF INDIA. 



monstrous sorts spoken of above. The plantains and 
bananas are not merely fruit, they are also a very 
considerable article of food amongst the natives of all 
the nations of the East, as well as of the West, who 
possess this invaluable fruit, and most of the sorts are 
very wholesome. The uses of the wild plantain are, 
as yet, not fully known in India. Valuable cordage 
is made from the stems in large quantities and ex- 
tensively exported from Manilla to all parts of the 
world ) of this manufacture, the natives in India are 
wholly ignorant, and it is singular, that abounding as 
the forests in some parts are with wild kinds, no 
European has yet shown them that the fibres give a 
valuable hemp, or indeed both hemp and the finest 
flax \ for, not only are the largest cables made from 
it, but also tissues almost as fine as those from -fibres 
of the anana. The fruit from the plantain, when dried 
in the sun, is found to keep perfectly for a length of 
time, and to resemble a rich fig. The plaintain leaf is 
of great utility. It forms plates and dishes for the 
natives, and the cool upper side is constantly applied 
by our medical men in India, as dressings for blisters, 
or as a covering for the shaven head, in cases of brain 
fever. 

ThePumplenose^^tw decumanus). — There seems 
no doubt with botanists that Java is the native 
country of this fine fruit, of which the best varieties 
almost rival a good orange, and its easy growth and 
abundant bearing make it in fact pretty nearly the 
orange of the inter-tropical country, or where, from 
want of elevation or peculiarity of soil or climate, the 
orange is difficult to rear. This is the case in Cal- 
cutta, which is supplied with oranges from the 
Sylhet Hills. In the West Indies, this fruit is called 
the shaddock, and is said to be so named after the 
captain of the ship who brought it from the East, 
which seems probable, for it is not mentioned in the 



THE FRUITS OF INDIA. U9 



writing of the early Spanish authors. The varieties 
of"he°frait are numerous, and of all degrees of flavour 
from that of a rich sugary orange melting in the 
South, to a tough, half-sour and ^ "dry taste 
which prejudices many against the fruit. It is a , 
siSarity,that the trees which bear very fine ones 
one vear, will give hut indifferent ones the next 5 but 
Ts may be owing to the utter want of all care and 
cuSuTefwhich our tree fruits invanab y expmence 
A tree which gives fruit is, to the native of Bengal, 
fomething so ready-made to his hand, that he does 
not seenTeven to suspect it «« beung; >ved In 
Unner India, where, through their Tartar, Feisian, 
anff iffghan neighbours and conquerors they have 
1 ideas of glrdening and even "j™^ 
much more attention is paid to these matters , but the 
chniate there becomes too severe for the pumplenose 
There can be no doubt, from the richness of ^flavou of 
the finer sorts, that they are susceptiole of vast im- 
provement. The sherbet prepared from them s a 
most grateful drink to the sick; and the fruit itself, if 
good ones can be had, is an invaluable sea s to <*• 
8 The Papaya (carica papaya).-This fruit, though 
abounding in India, is a well recognised importation 
from the°West Indies or Africa, where it is found 
abundantly, and of far larger size than those , of the 
common Indian growth. As a fruit, ea en both raw 
and boiled, pickled or preserved, it ranks high the 
choice ones being of a very rich and somewhat melon- 
like flavour when eaten with sugar and wine. As a 
tree, it is highly ornamental; few garden or orchard 
trees surpass it in gracefulness of appearance, in which 
indeed it approaches to the palm. The size and 
beauty of the leaf, and even of the leaf-stalks are 
always much admired when closely examined by those 
to whom the wonders of tropical vegetation are new. 
One of the curious properties of the papaya-tree is, 



120 



THE FRUITS OF INDIA. 



that it renders tough or newly-killed meat, tender, 
when hung- up amongst its leaves for a few hours, 
which effect is also produced by some other trees. 

The Loquat (mespihs japo?iica).— As a pretty and 
almost a picturesque fruit and tree, the loquat may 
rank very high, for the dark-green foliage of the 
tree, and twice in the year, the rich perfume of the 
flower, which renders it a great addition to the garden 
and equally so to the dessert, when served with a few 
of their leaves. Of the properties of the fruit there id 
but little to say, being almost what the French would 
call unjruit msigniftcmt in India, though much prizes 
m its native countries of China and Japan, where it 
grows to a much larger size, and has a far richer 
flavour thanm India, or even in the Eastern Islands, 
m ail ol which countries the climate seems too warm 
and moist for it; while in Northern India, though it 
may there have the winter which it evidently requires 
it has not the same degree of moisture; the winter of 
China and Japan being, as compared with those of 
India, wet winters. Amongst the natives of India 
it does not seem to be a fruit much thought of or 
prized, not being common in their gardens at any 
distance from large towns, and probably not beino- 
sufficiently high-flavoured. Amongst the European! 
there also it is nearly neglected, and when it appears, 
may be said to be rather tasted as a novelty than 
eaten as a favourite fruit. Amongst the Chinese and 
Dutch m the Eastern Islands, it is, however, much 
more prized, and the culture of the tree much at- 
tended to. Presents of fine sorts are frequently inter- 
changed, and from the gardens of some of the wealthy 
Chinese, and Malay- Chinese, Portuguese, and Dutch 
families of the olden times, who are all capital horti- 
culturists, and have, in the great Chinese population 
ot those countries, excellent gardeners, the fruit is 
really a delicious one. 



» 



THE FRUITS OF INDIA. 121 



The Jack, whicli in shape and size is not unlike 
a 7wrses head, grows undeniably out of the body oj 
the tree. It has an exceedingly rough, green outside, 
thickly covered with short blunted prickles. When 
cut open it is full of kernels, or seeds, about the size 
of a small plumb, each of which is imbedded in yellow 
pulp, which, through disagreeable in smell, is by no 
means so in taste, being full of saccharine matter. It 
is much eaten by the natives in this state, as well as 
used in curries. When the fruit is cut from the tree 
a thick, milky gum in large quantities drops from it. 
The kernels are often boiled and used at table as 
vegetables; the taste is like that of beans. ihe 
general size of the jack fruit is about one foot nine 
inches Ion?, and two feet six inches round, borne 
are much larger; it is often the case that one is as 
much as a person can carry. , . ... 

Leechee (neecliee phol) is a purely Chinese fruit, 
for it bears no other name but its Chinese one in any 
DPrtofthe world. Like most foreign fruits, it has 
much degenerated in India, from the utter want of 
culture, and by propagation from seed only ; the 
natives except a few gardeners about the large towns 
bem- Wholly ignorant of grafting, and too indifferent 
to practise it, or to give a young plant the care and 
attention necessary to produce a fine fruit-bearmg 
tree. Hence, with the exception of some from the 
Botanic Gardens, Calcutta, the majority of the 
leechees in India are of a most inferior description, 
and not to be compared with those of China, Batavia, 
the Mauritius, and Bourbon. It is, moreover, m and 
about Calcutta, a very capricious fruit-tree as to its 
bearings, the crop being very subject to failure from 
various causes: and even when the fruit is ripening, the 
trees must be covered with netting, to prevent the 
fruit being destroyed by the rapacious crows, whicli, 
with the squirrels, are the great enemies of all hunt 



122 



THE FRUITS OF INDIA. 



gardening- in Lower India, as the monkeys are in 
other parts. While the leechee lasts, however— and 
its duration is but for about a month in any perfec- 
tion—it is a rich addition to the dessert, and to the 
breakfast-table. The Chinese dry it in ovens, and in 
the sun, and it is thus exported in considerable quan- 
tities ; but in this state it is little sought after in 
India. The juice of the fruit is perfectly wholesome. 
In countries where the leechee abounds, and from its 
sweetness and rich flavour it is greedily eaten by 
children, deaths from indigestion and obstructions 
brought on by this cause are so common, when the 
fruit is in season, that in slave colonies the fruit is 
often broken from the trees when green, to avoid this 
danger to the children and the young negroes. The 
leechee-tree is very hardy, and will bear cold, heat, 
excessive rams, and even inundation for weeks, with- 
out apparent suffering, though doubtless the fruit is 
affected in quantity or quality by these trials. 

The Noona (annona reticulata), the sour sop, is a 
very ordinary fruit in the East ; those of the West 
Indies have a superior flavour. The fruit is eaten 
both raw and roasted in embers ; its bark, or hard ex- 
ternal skin is a powerful astringent and tonic, and of 
great use in native medicine, particularly amongst the 
Malays and Chinese, who also use it in some of their 
dyeing processes. The tree does not grow to a 
size which would allow the wood to be of any use. 
The fruit is much coveted by bats, squirrels, monkeys, 
and other vermin, which in the East so completely 
disappoint the hopes of the gardener. 

The J amrool (euge?iia alia or aquea), is a taste- 
less white fruit. This tree is mostly planted for orna- 
ment, its bright, pale, and almost transparent fruit, 
hanging m clusters amongst the large, dark green 
leaves, rendering it an object of pecular beauty. The 
Malays and natives of India, who are great lovers of 



THE FRUITS OF INDIA. 



waterv fraits, which they eat as cooling medicines, 
jyve^SWy of the>mrool, and eat it m large 
nu^ities y during its season, which is always the 
month o? the yea, . The Malay name for* 
is a very expressive one, jamber arger (the watei 
j££U with them the hark is 
i-pfo-n remedy for apthee m children, lhe traits ox 
al S LTm% appear to he singularly attractive to 
bats of all lLls and sizes, which swarm ahou the 
trees at the time of its ripening; the large hatful 
even cut through a net to get at the fruit, and are 
?hus caua-ht by those tribes of Coolies, Dangurs, and 
Srnwaks, who esteem a dish of stewed _ bats as a 
JehcaTy and sometimes pass a 

with as much perseverance and zest as the Lngli s n 
sportsmen follows the snipe or the fionken. 



124 



THE CLIMATE OF INDIA. 



CHAPTER X. 



THE CLIMATE OF INDIA. 



General range of the thermometer— Bengal, Madras, and Bom- 
bay — Remedies for heat — Diseases of India — Hill stations. 

"How aLout the climate?" is a question which 
very naturally suggests itself to all persons purposing 
to take up their abode in India. Any advantages in 
the shape of pecuniary gain and social position which 
India may confer are dearly purchased at the expense 
of health ; indeed, these advantages cannot be reaped 
at all if there is not some measure of certainty, or 
some reasonable chance, that the climate will be found 
suited to the constitutions of those who may proceed 
to either of the Presidencies. 

Of course, in so vast a continent, varied in its phy- 
sical features, and embracing twenty degrees of latitude, 
there must necessarily be a great diversity of climate. 
The air of the hills is purer and cooler than that of the 
plains; the presence of jung*le and swamp is more per- 
nicious than their absence; excessive aridity is as 
injurious as superabundant moisture. In India we 
find all the topographical peculiarities which induce 



IMS CLIMATE OF INDIA. 125 

contrariety of effect ; raid each Presidency is more 
of less affected by its difference oi geographical 

^ThTs'ituation of Bengal is low and level : in some 
parts remarkable for a dry and sandy-m others for a 
moist and clayev-soil. For eight months m the 
year that is, from November to June, scarcely a drop 
If win Ms excepting in the shape of an occasional 
to m, S a^?the°dust and coofs the heated atmo- 
sphere. On the other hand, from July to October m- 
chSve, a dry day is a rarity. Kain either falls for many 
davs too-ether, or for certain portions of each daj, 
Skfg the rivers and the tanks and diffusing universal 
humidity. To enable the reader to judge of the de- 
See of heat, without reference to qualifying circum- 
Itances, it will suffice to state that the owest range of 
£ thermometer in January is 52° early in the morn- 
i„o- and its highest 65° in the afternoon. This ® mild 
an°d pleasant enough. At no period of the year does 
Se thermometer fall below 52°. After January it 
gradually begins to ascend, reaehmg m he e^nm g , «f 
February 75° : in the afternoon ot March 82 . In 
ApTthe mercury runs up to 90° in the shade and 
110° in the sun. In May it ranges m the shade from 
35° in the morning to 93" in the afternoon rising to 
140° if exposed to°the sun. June finds it still on the 
accent It is frequently 99° in the shade at noon ; but 
the Trains begin to fall in the middle of the month and 
the air becomes cooler as we advance towards July. 
The thermometer, in the latter month, falls to SO and 
89° It preserves the same range m August, in 
September it falls to 78° in the morning, going up to 
85° in the afternoon. In October it seldom reacries a 
tio-her rana-e than 80° in the afternoon, whence it de- 
clines in November to 75°, and in December to 6o° m 

^hfse'ons at Bombay correspond with those of 



128 



THE CLIMATE OF INDIA. 



Calcutta. The thermometer takes much the same 
range as in Bengal; and although, in the hottest 
months, the casual advantage of a thunder-storm m 
never obtained, the sea breezes which set in towards the 
middle of the day essentially mitigate the heat of the 
atmosphere. Early in June the S. W. monsoon com- 
mences, the rains fall in rich abundance, and the air 
becomes cool and agreeable. 

The Madras seasons and temperature differ from 
those of the other Presidencies. January and February 
are the coldest months of the year. The thermometer 
ranges between 75° and 78°. Rain falls in slight 
sho wers continually, leaving a deposit of fractions of an 
inch. From March to June the range is between 76^ 
and 87°. In July the rains commence, and the ther- 
mometer then falls to 84°. It retains that position 
with very little deviation through August, and about 
four inches of rain fall. In September the thermo- 
meter falls to 83°, and the rain increases. In October 
the clouds begin to assume a more dense appearance 
than heretofore; the thermometer declines to an 
average of 81°, and the rainy season fairly commences 
just as it has terminated at the other Presidencies' 
During November the rains fall very heavily— not less 
than fourteen inches being deposited. The thermo- 
meter falls to 75° in December, and the rains abate. 

Of course, every scheme that humaiu ngenuity can 
devise to mitigate the discomfort of heati s resorted to. 
Ihe punkah is continually kept swinging ove- the head 
of the European; the window-blinds of the nouses are 
closed to exclude as much light as may be consistent 
with convenience; matting of fragrant grass is placed 
at doors and windows, and continually watered • and 
every possible attention is paid by the prudent to 
clothing and to diet. From November to March woollen 
clothes may be worn with advantage : during the rest 
ot the year everybody is clad in white cotton. No 



THE CLIMATE OE INDIA. 



127 



one ventures into the sun without parasols of a woad 
and shady form, or in palankeens roofed with tuskas. 

Nevertheless the European constitution is exposed 
to the attacks of many diseases. Fevers, dysentery, 
affections of the liver, cholera morbus, and rheumatism, 
are common; and there are numerous minor disorders, 
the effect of climate acting upon a slight or an ex- 
cessively robust system, which few can escape, ihese 
latter consist of a troublesome cutaneous eruption 
called pricklv heat, boils, and ulcers. Boils grow to a 
We size, are excessively painful and disturbing, and 
the lancet is often necessary to the relief of the 
patient. Constipation is also a common complaint, 
needino- exercise and stimulating medicines. 

Yet it does not follow that all persons should be 
assailed by the diseases of India. Very many in- 
dividuals go through life in all parts of the empire, 
with perhaps only a single attack of one or two of the 
greater complaints— and not a few will pass thirty- 
Years in India unscathed. The writer of these pages 
was singularly favoured. During a residence of 
twenty-one years— one half the time at Bombay, and 
the other half at Calcutta— he never had a single day s 

illness. , „ 

And if sickness should overtake the dwellers m any 
one of the Presidencies, baffling the skill of the practi- 
tioner, great facilities exist for resorting to the sana- 
tory hills in the vicinity of each town. The resident ot 
Calcutta can find relief by proceeding to the Darjelmg 
mountain— one of the Sinchul range-where he finds 
a climate as temperate as that of his own native fand. 
The place is reached by very easy stages m three or 
four days, and from the burning plain the invalid finds 
himself transported 7,200 feet above the level of the 
sea in a temperature of 55°. From Madras the Neil- 
gherry hills are reached with ease m a week, and at 
Ootacumand, the principal station, or settlement, the 



128 



THE CLIMATE OF INDIA. 



finest climate in the world is found, and convalescence 
rapidly achieved. Bombay boasts its Mahabuleshwar 
hills, which are less than seventy miles distant, and 
easily accessible by boat or palankeen. Here the mean 
annual temperature is at 66°, and beautiful scenery, 
added to healthful breezes, gives life to the valetudi- 
narian. 



THE WILD SPORTS OF INDIA. 129 



CHAPTER XL 



THE WILD SPOBTS OF INDIA. 

Jackall hunting— Boar hunting— Tiger hunting— The man tiger 
— The Nepaul Terai— Elephant hunting— Bear hunting — 
Deer stalking. 

The axe and the plough have been at work during 
the past fifty years to reclaim the jungle, the forest, 
and the wastes of India ; and the sporting ardour of 
the European Nimrods has dealt deadly havoc among 
the animals which found shelter and sustenance in 
these wilds and wildernesses ; but, nevertheless, a large 
quantity of land is still monopolized by untamed and 
untameable quadrupeds and feathered game of infinite 
varieties ; and in the pursuit of them the English resi- 
dents of the Mofussil (or interior) find abundant sources 
of excitement and entertainment. 

The animals which chiefly abound in India, are the 
tiger, the leopard, the bear, the elephant, the lion, the 
wolf, the boar, the jackall, the buffalo, the hyena, the 
jaguar, the jungle cat, the wild dog, the lynx, and 
many varieties of deer, from the sambur of the hills to 

K 



280 



THE WILD SPORTS OF INDIA. 



the antelope of the plains. Among the feathered tribe 
are the floriken, pheasants (white and golden), par- 
tridges, bustards, pea fowl, jungle cocks and hens 
(smaller than, but resembling in plumage,. the domestic 
fowl), quails, pigeons, wild ducks, teal, wild geese, snipe, 
ortolans, plovers, &c. 

Excepting jackail-hunting and snipe-shooting, very- 
little field sport is to be enjoyed in the immediate 
neighbourhood of the Presidency towns of Calcutta, 
Madras, and Bombay. It is the exclusive privilege of 
the dweller in the interior or among the hills, and 
compensates him for the absence of general society and 
those pastimes which the inhabitants of populous and 
wealthy towns provide for themselves. But those who 
have lived long in India seldom hesitate to give a pre- 
ference to life in the Mofussil, for there is endless 
pleasure in shooting and hunting, and health is pro- 
moted by the activity they demand. 

Jackail-hunting is a very good substitute for fox- 
hunting.- At Calcutta it is pursued with much ardour. 
The jackalls are numerous, and in the cold mornings of 
November, December, January, and February afford 
a capital run. The hounds are chiefly imported from 
England, and are the produce of some of the best 
packs. The expense of importing them is considerable ; 
but the Calcutta Hunt have never been chary of cost 
•when thoroughly good dogs have been offered or 
despatched to them. The jackall is a great pest to the 
farmers and villagers ; for like the fox in England, he 
commits great havoc among the poultry. His death, 
therefore, receives full sanction even at the expense of 
a few acres of wheat and rice-field trodden down in the 
chase. 

The most popular sports in the interior are hog and 
tiger-hunting. Skill and courage are the indispensable 
attributes of the huntsman, and spears and rifles his 
necessary weapons ; the spear for the boar, the rifle for 



THE WILD SPORTS OF INDIA. 



131 



the tiger. Englishmen altogether discard the German 
method of attacking the boar 5 they use neither fire- 
arms nor dogs. Mounted upon a nimble little Arab 
(in the west and south of India), or a gallant country- 
bred in the east and north-west, and having along 
bamboo spear, they betake themselves to the skirts of 
a jungle or sugar-cane plantation and with beating 
heartland firm hand, await the rush of a sounder (a 
small herd or drove) of hogs, which have been turned 
out of their franks, by a posse of beaters armed with 
lone* sticks. It is not long before a fine boar makes 
his "appearance. Scared at the sight of his enemies he 
rushes frantically across the open field. A hundred 
vards or less of law is given him, and away the hunts- 
men fly in hot pursuit* It is a race for the spear. 
He who comes up first with the hog and buries his 
spear-head in the grisly fellow's heart, wins the tusks, 
the coveted trophies o'f the chase. It is an even race 
so far, often over very rough and stony ground. The 
ho^ now begins to blow, he fears to fall from exhaus- 
tion without striking a blow ; suddenly he slackens his 
pace, wheels round, and with a terrific snort charges 
his pursuers. This is the critical moment. One^ false 
thrust, one miss, and the boar's tusks rip up the horse 
or unseat the rider. But a single turn of the wrist 
will lift the sagacious Arab, in time, and as the boar 
rushes by, the spear is thrust into his shoulder; 
another thrust from the rival chasseur follows, and 
after an ineffectual struggle or two the gray patriarch 
of the sugar-cane Met (plantation), yields up his life- 
blood. 

The story of one boar-hunt is the story of a thou- 
sand. It is only varied in the scene and in the number 
of the huntsmen, and the hogs. The chief localities of 
hog-hunting were the Deccan, and the centre of 
India. The progress of agriculture has tended to 
very materially reduce the range of the sportsman 



132 THE WILD SPORTS OF INDIA. 



and to dimmish the number of hogs, and now it is 
difficult to rear (or turn up) a sounder within many- 
miles of the places where they once abounded. Still 
an occasional good run is to be had) and in lower 
Bengal a considerable number of pigs afford trophies 
to the Budge-Budge Hunt. 

The flesh of the wild boar is much esteemed in 
India, but the sportsman prefers the possession of the 
tusks to any other fruits of his prowess in taking 
u first spear." 

Tiger-hunting, the next in general favour, is pur* 
sued upon a different system to that adopted in the 
case of hog-hunting. It would not be safe to risk the 
encounter of a tiger on horseback. Elephants, there- 
ore, are put into requisition, and are trebly useful in 
fconveying the sportsman to the field, protecting him 
from the tiger's charge, and assisting in the destruc- 
tion of the a feline monster." 

A tiger's chief haunt is the jungle skirting a 
meadow or wheat land, where oxen either graze or 
draw the plough. It is seldom that a sortie from the 
jungle is not rewarded by the capture of a heifer or 
young buffalo. When, therefore, the death of a trou- 
blesome scourge of the herds is determined on, it is 
not unusual to bait the field with a cow, whose lo wings 
at night attract the tiger. The latter sallies forth, 
seizes the prey, destroys it at once, and is found in 
the morning gorged to repletion by his nocturnal 
repast. The sportsmen, occupying howdahs on the 
backs of elephants, well armed with a couple of rifles 
each, which a servant keeps continually loaded, and 
Drovided with cigars, biscuits, and brandy-and- water, 
dy pale ale, advance in line upon the tiger, and th6 
moment he is sighted, salute him with a volley. Death, 
often, is the immediate result, and nothing then remains 
to be done but to provide the carcase with a carriage 
home, which is generally accomplished by throwing it 



THE WILD SPORTS OF INDIA. 133 



over the back of an elephant, not already encumbered 
by a howdah. But very frequently the tiger is only 
wounded, or perhaps alarmed — then look out for a 
charge ! With a growl and a roar, he springs upon 
the elephant, and has been known by his weight, to 
roll the latter, sportsman and all, on to the earth ; a 
critical situation, from which the prostrate party are 
only rescued by a judiciously directed shot from a 
companion sportsman, who has just come up. If the 
elephant on the other hand can sustain his weight, the 
tiger makes an effort to reach the tenants of the howdah. 
This is a ticklish position, especially for the mahout or 
driver, who is seated on the elephant's neck, and has 
only the hankas or iron hook, with which he urges 
and directs the elephant's course, wherewith to defend 
himself. But if the danger of the sportsman is aug- 
mented by this charge, so also is the danger of the 
tiger. He has brought himself within a few feet of 
the deadly rifle, and it will be strange, indeed, if he 
escapes the shot directed at his os frontis or his chest. 
Instances have been been known of a tiger's tearing 
the sportsman from his seat, and bearing him away to 
the jungle, but these casualties are very rare. Or- 
dinarily, the animal falls to the repeated shots, and is 
carried home that his skin, well dressed, may be con- 
verted into a rug or a howdah carpet, or despatched 
as a present to a loving friend at the Presidency or in 
England. 

It is an unfortunate thing for a village when a tiger 
once carries off a peasant, for having tasted of human 
blood, his voracity becomes enormous, and he will not 
be easily contented with any other description of 
food * Such tigers will establish themselves in some 

* A tiger who destroys men is called, par excellence, a " man 
tiger." In the Sanger and Nerbudda territories the natives 
have an idea, that after a tiger has killed one man the rest of 



134 



THE WILB SPORTS OP INDIA* 



narrow pass, where they lie in wait for passers bp 
men who carry the letter-bags, being their principal 
victims. Should there be any European stations at 
hand, the monster is soon sacrificed ; but when the 
villagers can have no assistance of the kind, ten or 
twelve victims have been known to fall under the in- 
satiable appetite of the savage, before the country has 
been sufficiently aroused - against him, to take effectual 
measures for his destruction, A reward of five hun- 
dred rupees (fifty pounds), is sometimes offered by the 
native chief of a district, for the head of a tiger, that 
has become formidable to the people of a village ; and 
a general muster of men and weapons, takes place in 
consequence of this stimulant to action. Having as- 
certained the haunt of the tiger, where he lies in wait, 
to spring from the bush, which forms his cover, on the 
unhappy passenger who endeavours to cross the path, 
the whole hunt assembles and the wilderness swarms 
with men ; every tree is converted into a watch tower ; 
the circle is formed, which, pressing in upon all sides 
contracts^until, completely hemmed in, the tiger roused 
in his lair, and opposed in every direction, meets his 
death ! 

Like boar-hunting, tiger-shooting is rapidly de- 
clining as a sport, under the auspices of the plough- 
share. In former times, there was no district in India 
more celebrated for its tiger-shooting than Goruckpore, 
near the Nepaul frontier. Year after year parties 
proceeded to its apparently inexhaustible Terai, and 
always returned with the spoils of numerous of these 
magnificent animals. In the time of Sir Roger Martin 

mankind are safe, for the spirit of the man rides upon his head 
and conducts him to prey. They also believe that tigers with- 
out tails (for such there are— victims of accident, conflict, or 
disease) are men v/ho have converted themselves into tigers by 
eating of a particular root, which effects the metamorphosis at 
once. 



THE WILD SPOUTS OF INDIA. 



135 



there was a well known tiger on the Nepaul frontier, 
who was the terror of the neighbouring- villagers ; man 
was his food, and he scorned to prey on any inferior 
animal. He once attempted to enter the hut of a 
Taroo, but the inmate received him with such a blow 
on the head from a Jungh axe, that the tiger was glad 
to retreat, and carried the scar of the wound to his dying 
day. By this scar he was known and recognised, and 
his depredations at last became so . serious that Sir 
Koger Martin went out for the express purpose of kill- 
ing him. He shot forty-eight tigers before he fell in 
with the one he was in search of, but the forty-ninth 
was "Le Balafre" himself, who fell, fighting to the last, 
and well supported his. former character for ferocity. 

Abbye Singh, the Rajah of Omorah, a very old and 
good sportsman, is known to have been at the death 
of nearly five hundred tigers ; but it would be an end- 
less task to enumerate all the instances in which large 
numbers of these animals have bit the dust, and yielded 
their skins as trophies to the sportsman. From, the 
above, it can easily be imagined that tigers were "plen- 
tiful as blackberries" a few years ago 5 and it is easily 
accounted for. After the Nepaul war, the TTerai was 
one wide inhospitable waste, without a vestige of in- 
habitants or cultivation, intersected by nullahs in every 
direction, and abounding in swamps; the jungles sprang 
up luxuriantly, and became the haunt of innumerable 
tigers, and wild animals of all descriptions. The annual 
inroads of sportsmen, and some slaughter by native 
shikarees did not apparently much diminish the num- 
ber of the tigers ; year after year they were killed in 
the same spots, and it appears that a desirable covert 
was no sooner vacated by the death of one, than an- 
other took possession of it, and a party was tolerably 
sure of good sport in the Goruckpore Terai. 

It is very different now ; the tigers would never have 
been extirpated by sportsmen j indeed, those killed bore 



136 THE WILD SPORTS OF INDIA, 



such a small proportion to the whole number, that for 
some years no decrease appeared to have taken place. 
But it is the change in the Terai itself which has 
diminished them, and which bids fair very shortly to 
put a stop to tiger-shooting entirely. Where formerly 
there was a howling wilderness, now villages have 
sprung up, the land is cultivated, and the jungle 
cleared; the march of civilization has made inroads on 
the domains lately sacred to the tiger and the bear* 
English gentlemen have received grants of land from 
Government on clearing leases, and by their efforts the 
jungle is rapidly disappearing. Nor are the Nepaulese 
behind us ; on their side of the boundary cultivation is 
increasing in a great degree, and the country daily 
becoming more densely populated. On the spot where 
a friend of the author's once killed a fine tiger, there 
is now a thriving village. The natural consequence of 
all this is, that the tigers have been obliged to retreat 
before the approach of civilization, and where formerly 
there were hundreds, you now will not find one 5 they 
have taken refuge in the lower range of hills, where 
they still find cover, but of course cannot oe got at 
there. One may now pass through the Terai for miles 
without finding a good covert: the only shooting 
you are likely to see is a revenue surveyor " shooting 
the sun " with his theodolite ; and instead of an ac- 
count of the deeds of a tiger party, we get a report 
on settlements. 

Elephant-hunting forms no part of an Englishman's 
sport on the continent of India. It is only in the forests 
of Coorg, in the peninsula, that the animals abound, and 
they are snared by the natives that they maybe trained 
and domesticated. Sending two tame elephants into 
the jungle to decoy a wild one by their caresses, and 
driving them towards the spot where the ropes are 
disposed for his reception, the unfortunate beast finds 
himself in the coils, and in spite of all his fierce and 



THE WILD SPORTS OF INDIA. 



137 



powerful struggles, is bound fast, and kept on low diet 
until he can be carried away in triumph. 

It is in the island of Ceylon that the elephant is the 
victim of the European rifle. Sallying forth with a 
o^ood supply of ammunition, a sportsman will not have 
to proceed many miles into the interior before he comes 
i-roon herds of elephants grazing at their ease. He 
selects one for his prize, brings the deadly tube to 
bear upon a vital point, and the ponderous beast falls 
upon his knees and surrenders his life. If slightly 
wounded, he sees his enemy, and deeming he is to be 
reached, the elephant will come down at a thundering 
pace, trumpeting with his proboscis en Vair. A 
friendly tree will then afford cover for protection and 
another shot; still the animal advances, but w^hen he 
is within a few yards of the object of his counter- 
attack, the latter slips aside and runs past the elephant. 
Too unwieldy to turn with ease and rapidity, the un- 
fortunate animal again becomes a mark for the bullets 
of the rifleman, and after a few wild and ineffectual 
efforts to get at his persecutor, he dies, and his tusks 
are appropriated and sold. 

Bear-hunting affords a good deal of sport, for Brum is 
full of courage, and takes a great deal of killing. From 
the number of shot he will receive before he gives up 
the ghost, one would almost imagine that he bore a 
charmed life. The "sport" consists in the first in- 
stance, in finding the bear; in the second place, m 
evading observation and pursuit by him ; and in the 
third, in shooting him under difficulties and risks. 
Bears are not often found in plains and level jungles : 
they affect mountains and rocky eminences, inter- 
spersed with ravines and dells. A friend of the 
author, who has had many opportunities of partici- 
pating in the sport, gives the following description of 
the modus operandi, and the exciting scenes which 
attend upon the chase. 



138 



THE WILD SPOUTS OF INDIA. 



u The hunting of bears forms a favourite amusement 
with the few, who enjoy the violent exertion and ex- 
citement which it calls forth. As such sports are not 
common in India, few stations of the army affording 
the haunts of the bear in their immediate vicinity, it may 
perhaps be worth while to relate how it is carried on, 
especially as it is the most manly and interesting of 
field sports, and highly conducive to the health and 
active habits of those addicted to it. 

a The sportsmen should be at least three in num- 
ber, to pursue bears over rugged ground with any 
prospect of success. They must also be provided with 
about a dozen beaters, to roll down rocks into the 
glen, and start the game, and cannot take with them 
too many fire-arms, as, from the long* distances at 
which it is necessary to fire, it is desirable to multiply 
the chances of killing; and the bear, besides, will 
seldom drop with a single ball, and when wounded is 
no despicable foe. 

" The sportsmen having assembled at the ravine by 
break of day, two of them take possession of the hither 
brink of the ravine, while the third accompanies the 
beaters along the further verge, inciting them to shout 
and cast down masses of rocks into the gulf below. If 
Mr. Bruin happens to be outside his den he is generally 
aroused by this disturbance, and will be seen either at 
the very bottom, or making his way along the side of 
the precipice, by paths where the human head would 
whirl with giddiness and the human foot find no 
security. No time is to be lost in firing, as the bear 
having so decidedly the advantage in the race over 
ground for which nature and experience have particu- 
larly fitted him, the space between him and his pur- 
suers increases at every moment. If not struck he 
will seldom turn, and there is little prospect of coming 
up with him, because the sportsman has every now 
and then to make a long detour to avoid broken 



THE WILD SPORTS OF INDIA. 



139 



ground; and is besides describing the outer curve, as it 
were, of a large circle, of which the bear occupies a 
position near the centre. 

" If the bear be struck when near his pursuers, he will 
usually turn upon them, and then coolness is required 
not to throw away their fire until he approach so near 
as to give them the choice of the wound they shall 
inflict. On such occasions I would recommend the 
young sportsman to drop on his knee in taking aim, 
which by bringing him more nearly to a level with the 
bear, prevents the advance of that animal from ma- 
terially altering the line of fire. If the beast be ad- 
vancing directly upon him, and he be cool enough to 
allow him to approach within seven or eight paces, he 
cannot perhaps do better than aim at the space be- 
tween its eyes, taking care not to throw his ball much 
higher than that, or it will pass harmlessly through 
the huge tuft of hair which overshadows the forehead, 
and crests its neck and shoulders, If the beast afford 
a side mark, let him, by all means, strike the point im- 
mediately behind the shoulder, bearing in mind that a 
great portion of the object presented to view, both 
above and below, consists of a shaggy fringe of long- 
hair, susceptible of no damage from his weapons. A 
ball striking the ribs rarely fails more or less to dis- 
able the quarry, piercing either the heart, the lungs, or 
the liver. But even then he must be approached with 
caution, although he should appear dead or dying. 
The native servant of an officer was scalped and killed 
outright by a single blow from the paw of a wounded 
bear, which he approached under the idea that it was 
defunct. Owing to the deception the eye meets with 
in such ravines, the sportsman will miss his game 
much oftener than he thinks the distance warrants ; 
and as he can never measure that distance afterwards, 
the mistake is not easily corrected, objects there appear- 
ing in general very much nearer than is really the case. 



140 



THE WILD SPORTS OF INDIA. 



The ordinary charge of a gun at those long ranges 
would not carry a ball up with any certainty ; and if 
the gun be of solid materials (and no other should be 
used in such break-neck places), two and a half 
drachms of powder will not be too much for a ball of 
eighteen to the pound. 

a Double-barrelled guns at long ranges are not true 
to the aim taken along the plate, between the barrels ; 
for each barrel being thicker at the breech than at the 
muzzle, slopes slightly inwards, so that the fire of the 
two will meet and cross at a certain distance. The 
difference, it is true, is not great ; but when added to 
the various other considerations which affect the ac- 
curacy of ball practice at long ranges, it is of much 
importance." 

The wild buffalo affords rare sport —in fact, there is 
none superior to it, from the ferocity and great strength 
of the animal, and the noble trophy his death places in 
the hands of his destroyer. The immense curved horns 
of the buffalo, sometimes measuring six feet in length, 
proudly decorate the hall of the sportsman who has 
been fortunate enough to slay one of the monsters. 
These buffalos are awfully destructive to the crops and 
the sugar-cane, and it is therefore under great circum- 
stances of rejoicing that the ryot witnesses their immo- 
lation. 

The chase of the deer in India admits of much 
variety. In Southern India greyhounds are employed 
in coursing antelopes. In Central India and the plains 
in the north-west, the cheeta, or .hunting leopard, is 
used ; while in the hills, where the deer are large and 
fierce, stalking is adopted, much upon the same prin- 
ciple and after the same manner with similar sport in 
the Highlands of Scotland. But many persons prefer 
shooting the deer, even in the plains, albeit, from the 
excessive vigilance and timidity of the race, it requires 
great caution and no inconsiderable degree of patience. 



THE WILD SPORTS OF INDIA. 



141 



An extract from a letter from an old sporting friend to 
whom the author wrote a few years since for a hint or 
two upon the subject of deer-shooting, may not be 
unacceptable in this place. a 

"The best place for shooting deer, which 1 have 
been able to discover for the open plains, after some 
years' constant practice is, to circle them on norseback, 
taking care not to get too close, till you get the sun 
and wind in vour favour. Having fixed on this desi- 
rable point, gradually close into it, the deer will be m 
a state of uncertainty ; take your rifle from the bearer s 
shoulders, who is walking at your stirrup, and the 
moment the deer make up their minds to be ofl, dis- 
mount ! Ay, ay ! what a splendid buck— he turned 
round to see what you were doing; and as the sight 
of the rifle meets your eye, his clean, white breast is ail 
before you, distant one hundred and fifty yards ; one 
moment, and all the herd but him are scattered at 
their speed over the plain. Now pace the distance, 
and see if you judged correctly. Ay ! one hundred 
and forty paces— not so bad ! and the ball m the 
centre of the bottom of the neck. A deer standing, as 
I have mentioned, is, I think, the best mark ; a rifle is 
generally held straight on the object, and a ball varies 
more in its elevation than it does sideways. An 
amusino- way for two people is with double barrels. 
You spy a herd of deer a mile off ; take your guns and 
canter away to the right and left, at a moderate angle 
from your people, who are to go straight on the herd; 
as you get towards the flank of the herd, gradually 
close in; they are getting alarmed, but looking at your 
men more than yourself. Judgment is now required 
when to ride fast or slow; now the leading doe makes 
a dash forwards, and all the rest follow her example; 
she stops, and so do they ; you both gallop as they 
do, and stop when they do, and if the judgment is 
good, they will run between you, giving each spoils- 
man two good shots." 



142 



THE WILD SPORTS OF INDIA. 



A similar method of approaching the bustard is also 
recommended; he is a tall and timid bird ; accustomed 
to the sight of the husbandmen with their plough, he 
does not seem disturbed by their approach. It is other- 
wise with the sportsman. The peculiarity of his cos- 
tume arouses the apprehension of the bird, and he 
wings his flight beyond fowling-piece range the mo- 
ment he sees his enemy. The best plan, therefore, is 
to employ a native ploughman or a hackery wallah with 
his vehicle to approach the bustard in concentric 
circles, diminishing the distance at each revolution. 
You accompany him, concealing yourself by the 
man's side, or behind his cart, and when within proper 
distance, level, and bring down your game, 



HELIGIOUS CEREMONIES; CREEDS, ETC- 143 



CHAPTER XH. 



BELieiOUS CEREMONIES, CBEEDS, &c 

he Brahminical religion— The Doorga Poojah—The Nautch 
—Hindoo music — The Churuk Poojah -~ Jnggernafh-Ths 
Suttee— The Moliurrum—The Buckra Eade—The Bhearer. 



No better proof can be presented of the perfect and 
admirable toleration of the British rule m India, than 
the multitude of places of worship which may be seen 
at one view in any considerable town between Cape 
Cormorin and the Himalayas, The spire of the Chris- 
tian church, in juxtaposition with the pagoda o. the 
Hindoo, the dome, roof and lofty minarets of the Ma- 
homedan mosque ; the Parsee augiaree (or fire-temple), 
the Baptist Mission chapel, and the Greek church 
to which the Armenians resort, demonstrate that re- 
ligious persecution is unknown, though political free- 
dom may be under some restraint. It is by no means 
an uncommon thing to hear, early of a morning m any 
one of the cities, the bells of the Roman Catholic 
chapel and the Hindoo temple, forming with the cry 
of the muezzin from the summit of the minaret a not 



144 RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES, CREEDS, ETCo 



unpleasing concord. The bigots of all persuasions 
may detest each dther, and manifest in their private 
intercourse the presence of strong religious prejudice, 
but no open demonstration of hostility is permitted. 
The law takes immediate cognizance of any violent 
ebullitions of hate ; and this fear of the law holds even 
the passions of the fanatic in subjection. 

The relis 'ion of the Hindoos, though bosed upon 
Brahminism, admits of many ramifications. Buddhism, 
an offshoot of Brahminism, possesses perhaps more 
votaries than any existing religion. Buddha, the 
ninth incarnation of Vishnu, " the illustrious lord of the 
universe/' taught that the soul when sufficiently puri- 
fied shall lose all consciousness of separate existence, 
and be received into the essence of the godhead. It 
teaches that this state of bliss is equally attainable by 
men, angels, and demons: it substitutes sanctity for 
sacrifice. The Jains, another branch of Brahminism, 
resemble the Buddhists in religious tenets, but look 
upon God as so inconceivable in his nature that the 
human understanding is too feeble to comprehend his 
perfections. 

For purposes of religious and temporal government 
the early Brahmins instituted caste. Menu, the great 
Hindoo lawgiver, in all his writings insisted upon the 
importance of preserving the divisions of mankind 
intact • and to this time nothing is more terrible to a 
Hindoo than the risk of losing his caste by the wilful 
or accidental perpetration of some act which is in- 
hibited to his sect. There are four original castes: 
The Brahmins, or priests ; the Ksatriyes, or warriors. 
The Vaisyas, or merchants ; and the Soodras, or vulgar 
to the first belongs, or belonged, the exclusive privileges 
of reading and explaining the sacred books, the Vedas. 
The warrior caste come next. Agriculture and trade, 
as third in order of importance according to the 
original constitution of society, constituted the pur- 



RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES, CREEDS, ETC. 147 



soul of Durga long continue in happiness in this 
image." Other ceremonies, and the sacrifice of nu- 
merous animals, as buffaloes, sheep, goats, &c, then 
follow. The flesh and blood of the animals, and other 
articles, are then offered to the images of the goddess 
and the other deities which are set up. The ceremo- 
nies and sacrifices of the second and third days of the 
worship are nearly similar to those of the first day. 
After the whole of the beasts have been slain, the 
multitude daub their bodies with the mud and clotted 
blood, and then dance like Bacchanalian furies on 
the spot. On the following morning, the image is, 
with certain ceremonies, dismissed by the officiating 
Brahmin. 

This image — one of the most disgusting that can 
be conceived — represents Kalee (Doorga's impersona- 
tion of the Destroyer), a very black or blue female, 
having in one hand a scimitar, and in another the head 
of a giant, which she holds by the hair. Another 
hand is spread open, bestowing a blessing ; and with 
the fourth she is forbidding fear. She wears two dead 
bodies for ear-rings, and a necklace of skulls, and her 
tongue hangs down to her chin — emblematic of her 
shame on discovering that, in her wild and ungovern 
able passion, she is trampling on her husband, Siva. 
The heads of several giants are hung in a girdle round 
her loins, and her tresses fall down to her heels. 
Having drunk the blood of the giants she has slain 
in combat, her eyebrows are bloody, and the blood 
is falling in a stream down her breast ; her eyes are 
red like those of a drunkard. She stands with one leg 
on the breast of her husband, and rests the other on 
his thigh. 

This image is placed by the priests on a stage 
formed of bamboos, and carried, surrounded by a con- 
course of people of both sexes, and accompanied by 
drums, horns, and other Hindoo instruments, to the 



148 RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES, CREEDS, ETC. 



shore > and cast into the water in the presence of all 
ranks and descriptions of spectators ; the priest, at the 
time, invoking the goddess, and supplicating from her, 
life, health, and affluence ; urging her (their universal 
mother, as they term her) to go then to her abode, 
and return to them at a future time. During this 
period licentiousness and obscenity prevail. For three 
days of worship in Bengal the houses of the rich Hin- 
doos are at night splendidly illuminated, and thrown 
open to all descriptions of visitors ; and they acknow- 
ledge, with much attention and gratitude, the visits 
of respectable Europeans. The images exhibited on 
these occasions, are made of a composition of hay, 
sticks, clay, &c, and some of them are ten and twelve 
feet high. 

During the whole of the day after the pooja, as some 
of the images are brought from villages at a consider- 
abl e distance from the holy stream, in order to be cast 
in, the uproar and din are indescribable. Immense 
sums of money are expended on these festivals. A 
great deal is given in charity, and in feeding and 
clothing priests and beggars. Much is also spent in 
general feasting, and not a little is lavished on the 
nautch girls y or bayaderes, who dance before the god- 
dess. 

The Nautch is an Indian entertainment, of which 
dancing forms the chief element ; not, however, where 
the guests dance, but where they witness certain 
evolutions dignified by the appellation of dancing. 

The native of India does not condescend to Terpsi- 
chorean indulgence. He prefers to be a spectator of 
the gesticulations of others, who make a trade of the 
" light fantastic," and are called nautch girls. 

These girls are of different kinds. The most re- 
spectable, according to the author of the "Vade 
Mecum," are the meeraseens y sometimes called doo- 
minca ; though the real doominca exhibit in public be- 



RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES, CREEDS, ETC. 145 

suit of the Vaisyas ; and the Soodras, to whom all 
knowledge of the Vedas was forbidden, filled all the 
menial and degrading offices. These four great castes 
have been infinitely subdivided, and as each minute 
subdivision acknowledges the protecting influence of 
some special deity or family of deities, the Hindoos 



worship. It would be impossible to convey anything 
like an adequate idea of the mythology of the Hindoos 
within the compass of this volume, for the attributes 
of each special god and demi-god are infinite, and to 
our homely notions, gross and improbable. All the 
fabulous achievements ascribed by the heathen Greeks 
and Romans to the subjects of their Pantheon, rise 
into the possible by the side of the monstrous absurd- 
ities of the Hindoo creed. And their sculptured and 
modelled impersonations of their deities are as frightful 
and revolting as the major part of their belief. The 
ancients of Europe fitly associated their notions of 
super-excellence with the most beautiful embodiments. 
The perfection of the human form was deemed indis- 
pensable to the realization of the idea of supernatural 
power. The Jupiter, the Mars, the Apollo, and the 
Venus of the unknown sculptors who worked under 
the magic influence of religious enthusiasm, are ex- 
amples of form and expression, which degraded and 
corrupt humanity never could completely attain. It is 
otherwise with the Hindoo. His sense of the powerful is 
of the vulgarest order. He gives an additional number 
of legs and arms to his destroyers and avengers, and 
connects their human attributes with portions of the 
limbs and heads of animals. life worships the energy 
of man and the fruitfulness of woman with unmis- 
takeable symbols, and his idea of the godhead, Brahm, 
is only realized by three distinct heads, destitute of 
facial expression, each looking in a different direc- 
tion. 



have many thousands 




L 



146 RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES; CREEDS, ETC. 



In honour of these various tutelar deities, or patron 
saints, the Hindoo holds numerous festivals ; on some 
of which occasions he makes great holiday. Indeed, 
so numerous are the holidays of the Hindoos, that at 
one time it was difficult to induce them to give their 
services to their employers for more than 200 days 
In the year. Certain imperative ceremonies of bathing 
and prayer are continually alleged as causes of un- 
avoidable absence from business. At length the 
Government deemed it necessary to institute inquiries 
into the rigorous exactions of religion, and it was soon 
found that the threat of expulsion from office enabled 
the Hindoo materially to curb those devotional exer- 
cises, which amounted to mere form, if; in reality, 
they were practised at all. From fifty to one hundred 
festivals, the "red letter days' 7 came down to twenty, 
and even these are now somewhat reduced. The 
great poojas (pooja, worship) are limited to two or 
three, and it is only upon the occasion of the Doorga 
pooja, or the JDusserah, as it is called in Western 
India, that some days of absence from all public duties 
are permitted. 

A festival in honour of Doorga, or the goddess-con- 
sort of Siva, is the most splendid and expensive, as 
well as the most popular of any of the Hindoo 
festivals. It takes place in the month Ashmnn or 
Assin (the end of September or beginning of October;. 

The preliminary ceremonies occcupy several days, 
previous to the three days' worship. „ _ . 

During the whole of this period, all business 
throughout the country is suspended and universal 
pleasure and festivity prevail. On the first of the 
three days of worship, the ceremony of giving eyes 
and life to the images takes place, before which they 
cannot become objects of worship. This is performed 
by the officiating Brahmin touching the cheeks, eyes, 
breast, and forehead of the image, saying, "Let the 



RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES, CREEDS; ETC. 151 

they advance or describe a circle. The same evolu- 
tions are repeated, with the most unvarying monotony, 
and are continued until the appearance of a new set of 
dancers gives a hint to the preceding party to with- 
draw. 

The passionate fondness of the natives for the 
nautch has in it something extraordinary. Many 
Europeans also were formerly so excessively devoted 
to it as to excite the special ridicule of a distinguished 
satirist. A few lines of his diatribe occur to us— 

<« Shrilly she shrieked, and high above 
The music of her fiddles three, 
Bose the romantic strain of love, 
Chota, chota, natchelee ! 

« * * * 

And then she danced ! for so they call, 
Jingling her anklets while advancing, 
"With many a horrid squeal and squall, 
With twirling hands and sudden kicks, 
Her charms of person much enhancing ; 
People may patronise such tricks, 
But shouldn't, surely, call it dancing." 

The music of the Hindoos consists of melodies; har- 
mony is unknown. It (the music) is termed surgeet. 
The "gamut is called soorgtim, from the first four notes 
of the scale abbreviated. The number of tones is the 
same as in European music, with an infinite variety 
of semi-tones and quarter tones. The general term of 
melody is rag or raggaree. 

The chief instrument of the nautch orchestra is the 
vena. It is strung with seven metal wires, three steel and 
four brass, but the melody is generally played on one of 
the steel wires. The other instrument is the tom-tom 9 
or drum, an oblong hollow instrument of larger circum- 
ference in the middle than towards the ends. It re- 
sembles the small barrel used by fishmongers for the 
transport of presents of oysters. 



152 RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES, CREEDS, ETC. 

There are twenty species of vocal compositions. The 
dhoor pud is the principal/ It is the heroic song; the 
subject being generally the memorable actions of 
heroes ; the style is masculine, easy, and free from 
ornament. The holees or horees are the common 
ditties which recite the amours of Krishna in the 
groves of Vrig. The tuppa is the favourite species of 
song ; its subject is love. The tenor of the tuppa is 
one or more of the following themes : beseeching the 
lover to be propitious — lamentations for his absence- 
imprecations of rivals — complaints of inability to meet 
him from the watchfulness of the mother and sister-in- 
law — and the tinkling of the bells worn round the 
ancles, &c. In the tones of a Hindoo orchestra there 
is something peculiarly drowsy and discordant, but the 
natives prefer it infinitely to the European combina- 
tion. 

To proceed with the detail of native ceremonies — 
The Churuk Poojah is a Hindoo festival deriving 
its name churuk (or chalird), a wheel or discus, from 
the circle performed in the swinging part of it, that 
terminates the annual ceremonies in honour of Siva. 
" The higher classes," says Williamson, " do not en- 
gage in it, although they contribute towards the 
expense of, and countenance it. The initiatory cere- 
monies of purification, abstinence, and exercises of devo- 
tion, take place several days before the commencement 
of the rites, during which time the sunnyasees, or 
worshippers, form themselves into parties, and wander 
about the streets with horns, drums, &c, making a 
most intolerable din. The first exhibition is that of 
suspension, which is performed by two posts being 
erected, on the top of which is placed a strong bar, 



by his feet over a fire kindled beneath him, into which 
rosin is occasionally cast. His head is then com- 
pletely enveloped in the smoke, though sufficiently 



from which the sunny asee, or worshi] 




is suspended 



BELIGIOUS CEREMONIES, CKEEDS, ETC. 149 



fore men, which the meeraseens never do. The word 
meeras means an inheritance, and rneeraseen an im 
heritress, from the custom, in certain families, of never 
changing the set. As the meeraseens are never accom- 
panied by male minstrels, they seldom play on other 
instruments than drums of different kinds, such as the 
tabla, dhohilt, and munjeera; though the meeraseens 
never perform before assemblies of men, yet the hus- 
band and his sons may be present. They are modest 
and chaste in their manners and dress; but notwith- 
standing this, it sometimes happens that a fair rneera- 
seen attracts the attention of the male part of the 
family. The kunehenee are of an opposite stamp: 
they dance and sing for the amusement of the male 
sex, and in every respect are at their command. They 
are attended by male minstrels, to whom they are 
often married. It is said these women always consider 
their first lover as their real husband during the rest 
of their lives; and, on his death, though they should 
be married to another, they leave off their pursuits for 
a prescribed period, and mourn agreeably to the cus- 
tom of widows. They do not consider any part of 
their profession either disgraceful or criminal. 

There are many other kinds of dancing women, 
such as, hoorhenees, bazeegarnees } dharees, &c. &c. In 
dancing, the nautch-girls present very picturesque 
figures, though somewhat encumbered by the volumi- 
nous folds of their drapery. Their attire consists of a 
pair of gay-coloured silk trousers, edged and em- 
broidered with silver or gold lace, so long as only to 
afford occasional glimpses of the rich anklets, strung 
with small bells, which encircle the legs. Their toes 
are covered with rings, and a broad, flat, silver chain 
is passed across the foot. Over the trousers a petti- 
coat of some rich stuff appears, containing at least 
twelve breadths, profusely trimmed, having broad 
silver or gold borders, finished with deep fringes of 
the same. 



150 RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES, CREEDS, ETC. 



The coortee, or vest, is of the usual dimensions, but 
it is almost hidden by an immense veil, which crosses 
the bosom several times, hanging 1 down in front and at 
the back in broad ends 3 either trimmed to match the 
petticoat, or composed of still more splendid materials, 
the rich tissues of Benares. The hands, arms, and 
neck, are covered with jewels, sometimes of great value, 
and the hair is braided with silver ribbons, and con- 
fined with bodkins of beautiful workmanship. The 
ears are pierced round the top, and furnished with a 
fringe-like series of rings, in addition to the ornamen 
worn in England \ the diameter of the nose-ring- is at 
large as that of a crown-piece ; it is of gold wire, ands 
very thin ; a pearl and two other precious gems are 
strung upon it, dangling over the mouth, and disfiguring 
the countenance. With the exception of this hideous 
article of decoration, the dress of the nautch-girls, when 
the wearers are young and handsome, and have not 
adopted the too-prevailing custom of blackening their 
teeth, is not only splendid but becoming; but it re- 
quires, however, a tall and graceful figure to support 
the cumbrous habiliments which are worn indiscrimi- 
nately by all the performers. The nautch-girls of 
India are singers as well as dancers ; they commence 
the vocal part of the entertainment in a high, shrill 
key, which they sustain as long as they can; they 
have no idea whatsoever of modulating their voices, 
and the instruments which form the accompaniment 
are little less barbarous \ these consist of nondescript 
guitars, and very small kettle-drums, which chime in 
occasionally, making sad havoc with the original me- 
lodies, some of which are sweet and plaintive. The 
dancing is even more strange, and less interesting than 
the music ; the performers rarely raise their feet from 
the ground, but shuffle, or to use a more poetical, 
though not so expressive a phrase, glide along the 
floor, raising their arms, and veiling or unveiling as 



RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES, CREEDS, ETC. 155 

persons, and made the means of enriching the priests 
of the Hindoos. Being placed in a box, they re- 
mained till Vishnu, on being applied to by a religions 
monarch, Indra Dhoomna, commanded him to make 
an image of Juggernat'h, and place the bones m it. 
The king would willingly have done as he was de- 
sired, but unfortunately, possessed not the skill tor 
such an undertaking; so he made bold to ask Vishnu 
who should make it? Vishnu told him to apply to 
Viswakarma, the architect of the gods. He did so, 
and Viswakarma set about forming the image of Jug- 
gernat'h, but declared, if any person disturbed him m 
his labours, he would leave his work unfinished. Ali 
would have gone on well, had not the king shown a 
reprehensible impatience of those divine injunctions 
which he had solemnly pledged himself to observe. 

After fifteen days he went to see what progress the 
holy architect had made, which so enraged him, that 
he 'desisted from his labours, and left the intended 
god without either arms or legs. In spite, however, 
of this perplexing event, the work of Viswakarma has 
become celebrated throughout Hindostan; and pil- 
grims, from the remotest corners of India, flock, at the 
time of the festivals of Juggernat'h, to pay their adora- 
tion at his monstrous and unhallowed shrine. Be- 
tween two and three thousand persons are computed 
to lose their lives annually on their pilgrimage to 
Juggernat'h. The temples of this deity being the 
resort of all the sects of the Hindoos, it is calculated 
that not less than 200,000 worshippers visit the cele- 
brated pagoda in Orissa, yearly, from which the Brah- 
mins draw an immense revenue. All the land within 
twenty miles round the pagoda is considered holy ; 
but the most sacred spot is an area of about 650 feet 
square, which contains fifty temples. The most con- 
spicuous of these is a lofty tower, about 184 feet m 
height, and about 28 feet square inside, called the 



156 RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES; CREEDS; ETC. 



Bur Dewali, in which the idol and his brother; and 
sister Subhadra, are lodged. Adjoining' are two 
pyramidieal buildings. In one. about forty feet square, 
the idol is worshipped ; and in the other, the food 
prepared for the pilgrims is distributed. These build- 
ings were erected in a.d. 1198. The walls are covered 
with statues, many of which are in highly indecent 
postures. The grand entrance is on the eastern side ; 
and close to the outer wall stands an elegant stone 
column, thirty-five feet in height, the shaft of which is 
formed of a single block of basalt, presenting sixteen 
sides. The pedestal is richly ornamented. The column 
is surrounded by a finely- sculptured statue of Hanu- 
man, the monkey-chief of the Bamayana. The 
establishment of priests and others belonging to the 
temple, has been stated to consist of 3,900 families, 
for whom the daily provision is enormous. The holy 
food is presented to the idol three times a day. This 
meal last about an hour, during which time the danc- 
ing girls belonging to the temple, exhibit their pro- 
fessional skill in an adjoining building. Twelve festi- 
vals are celebrated during the year, the principal of 
which is the Eath Jatra. Juggernat'h is styled the 
Lord of the World. 

His temples, which are also numerous in Bengal, 
are of a pyramidieal form. During the intervals of 
worship, they are shut up. The image of this god is 
made of a block of wood, and has a frightful visage, 
with a distended mouth. His arms, which, as he 
was formed without any, have been given to him by 
the priests, are of gold. He is gorgeously dressed, 
as also the other two idols which accompany him. In 
a compartment in the temple of Rama, he is repre- 
sented in company with Bala Rama and Subhadra, 
without arms or legs. 

The town of Juggernat'h is situated on the coast of 
the province of Orissa, inlat. 19° 49' N , long, 85° 54' 



RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES, CREEDS, ETC. 153 

hiffh to be beyond the reach of the flame. On the 
following day the simnyasees dance and roll themselves 
tipon the downy beds of various descriptions of prickly 
plants. Their next ceremony is called the damp 
sanvei, or jumping on a couch of pointed steel, which 
has" been thus described. A bamboo scaffolding of 
three or four stages is erected, on which the sunny asees 
stand, tier above tier, the principal and most expert 
occupying the upper row, which is sometimes between 
twenty and thirty feet high. A kind of bedding sup- 
ported by ropes, is stretched beneath the scaffolding 
by a number of men. Upon the mattress are attached 
several bars of wood, to which are fixed very loosely, 
and in a position sloping forward, semicircular knives, 
upon which the sunny asees throw themselves m suc- 
cession. In general the effect of the fall is to turn the 
knives flat upon the bedding, in which case they do no 
harm, but occasionally severe wounds, and even death, 
ar* the consequences of this rite. Before they take 
their leap the performers cast fruits, as cocoa-nuts, 
bels, plantains, &c, among the crowd, among which 
there is a great scramble for them, as they are sup- 
posed to possess much virtue. Women desirous of 
progeny are very anxious to get these donations; and 
those of the first families send persons to obtain and 
brino- them for their private eating. \ ; 

The next is the day of the churuk, or swinging 
ceremony. Posts, about thirty feet in height, are 
erected in the suburbs of a town, across the upper 
part of which are loosely suspended long bamboos, so 
as to enable them to traverse freely. To one end ot 
the bamboo two hooks are fixed by ropes, which are 
run through the fleshy parts of the back, near the 
shoulders. A rope is also fastened to the other end 
of the bamboo, which as soon as the party who is to 
swing is secured to the hooks, is pulled ly several 
men, who thus raise the other end somewhat higher 



154 KELIGIOUS CEREMONIES; CREEDS; ETC. 



than the post. They then go round with it, with con- 
siderable velocity; by which means the man at the 
other end describes a circle of about thirty feet in 
diameter. 

Sometimes a cloth is tied round the body, and 
secured to the hooks, to prevent; if the flesh should 
be torn away, the man from being* dashed to pieces ; but 
such is frequently not the case, and the party falling* is 
often killed on the spot. Some of these men while 
swinging amuse themselves by smoking, and throwing 
fruit and flowers (which they take up on purpose), 
among the spectators. 

On the morning following the chtiruk, Siva is wor- 
shipped in the temple; and the festival is concluded. 

During each day of the festival; the swinyasees 
worship the sun; pouring water, flowers, &c, &c, on a 
clay image of the alligator, and repeating muntras, or 
prayers. 

Great efforts have been made by the missionaries 
and the British Government to put an end to these 
barbarous rites, and there can be little doubt that 
under the influence of education they will soon become 
mere matters of history. 

But horrible as is the rite of churuk poojah it sinks 
into insignificance, or rises into humanity, by the side 
of the immolations which take place before the rolling 
car of Juggernat'h. Some account of this famous 
temple, its supposed origin, and the scenes which are 
enacted upon the occasion of the procession of Rath 
Jatra, may not be out of place here. 

Juggernat'h, in Hindoo mythology, is the re- 
animated form of Krishna. According to the Hin- 
doos, the love-inspiring Krishna was one day shot with 
an arrow from the bow of a hunter, who left the lovely 
form of the deity, whom the Gopias had so franticly 
adored, to rot under the tree where it fell. After 
some time, his bones were collected by some pious 



RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES; CREEDS; ETC. 159 

deserted homes the victims of ignorance, poverty, and 
wretchedness. 

" It is, perhaps, useless to state here that human 
sacrifices under the wheels of the car have long been 

abolished."* „ i _ _ 

The suppression of the rites of the car of Juggernat n 
is not the only service rendered to humanity by the 
British Government. _ • £ 

Suttee, female immolation on the funeral pile ot a 
deceased husband, once very common— was put down 
in 1828 by Lord W. Bentinck. Although the blias- 
tras recommend, and contain regulations for the prac- 
tice of the rite, the sacred ordinances not only do not 
expressly, as some had supposed, enjoin it, but distinctly 
point out in what manner a woman, after the decease 
of her husband, shall be taken care of 5 and leave it 
optional with her, either to burn herself, or live a future 
life of chastity and respectability. If, they say, after 
marriao-e her (the woman's) husband shall die, her 
husbancTs relations— or, in default thereof, her father's 
—or, if there be none of either, the magistrate, shall 
take' care of her; and, in every stage of life, if the 
person who has been allotted to take care of a woman, 
and do not take care of her, each in his respective 
staffe, the magistrate shall fine them. 

The ordinance nevertheless adds, that it is proper 
for a woman to burn herself with the corpse of her 
husband; in which case she will live with him in 
Paradise three crore and fifty lacs, or thirty-five mil- 
lions of years. If she cannot burn, she must observe 
an inviolable chastity. If she remain always chaste, 
she will go to Paradise ; if not, she will go to Hell. 
Immediate beatitude, an almost immortal life m hea- 



* See a very elaborate and interesting account of Onssa ai 
the temple of Juggernat'h, from the pen of Lieut. Laurie, 
the Madras Engineers. 



160 RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES, CREEDS, ETC. 

vens of ineffable delight, and other enjoyments, whose 
gross sensualities are concealed by the dazzling bril- 
liancy of oriental colouring, are among the irresistible 
charms which are held forth to enthral the mind, and 
lead the victim of marital selfishness too often to 
become a suttee. In short, it is averred, that the gods 
themselves reverence and obey the mandates of a wo- 
man who becomes one. There is, besides these, 
another powerful motive which operates in conjunction 
with them. Among the Hindoos a woman, after the de- 
cease of her husband, loses entirely her consequence in 
his family, and is degraded to a situation little above 
that of a menial. She is told that if she become a suttee, 
she will not only escape from that life of assured de- 
basement and contempt, but will ascend to a state as 
pre-eminently exalted; and will thus (whatever the 
crimes of the parties may have been) save both her 
own soul, and the souls of her husband and her hus- 
band's family, from purgatory and future transmigra- 
tion. ° 

These doctrines, impressed on the minds of weak 
women by a designing priesthood, were in the olden 
time sufficiently convincing to lead to much personal 
immolation. Drugged and excited, the victim went 
to her death with an air of heroism, and the deafening 
noise of torn toms, the crackling of the faggots, and the 
shouts of the multitude, drowned her cries and shrieks 
until the destructive power of the flames reached her 
heart. The harvests of the Brahmins on these occa- 
sions were considerable. Fees were paid and feasts 
given by the woman's friends, and as she ascended the 
pile she distributed her trinkets among the priests. 
b Without pretending to rigid accuracy of commuta- 
tion, I should say that about one-fourth of the entire 
population of India are of the Mahomedan persuasion. 
Vast numbers of the sepoys, public and private ser- 
vants, sailors, shopkeepers, western agriculturists, ped- 



RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES, CREEDS, ETC. 157 

E. It is named, and usually called Pooree, and is in- 
habited chiefly by the Brahmins, and others con- 
nected with the pagoda. On the sea shore, eighteen 
miles to the northward of Juggernat'h, are the re- 
mains of an ancient temple of the sun, called, in 
English, the black pagoda. The greater part of 
the temple is in ruins, having been thrown down, 
apparently by lightning, or earthquake,; but from 
what remains, it appears to have been one of the most 
singular edifices ever constructed in India. Part of 
the tower, 120 feet high, is still standing, and the ante- 
chamber, or jungmohun, about 100 feet high. 

This temple, which has been long deserted, was 
built by a rajah of Orissa in 1241. 

" Historians have often remarked the surprising re- 
semblance which exists in the external worship of 
India and Egypt. In the religions of both countries, 
bloody and unbloody sacrifices ; the strict observance 
of pilgrimage, causing a numerous assembly of people 
at festivals, penances, bathing in supposed holy waters, 
and if drowned, the act supposed to confer eternal 
bliss; their gods conveyed from one temple to another 
on enormous stages, erected upon huge cars. These 
latter customs, related by Herodotus (forming part 
of a long comparison between the Hindoos and 
Egyptians, admirably set forth in Heeren's " Re- 
searches); 7 are particularly applicable to Juggernath. 

At Pooree, about the middle of every year, three 
large cars are built for the Rath Jatra, at which festi- 
val the images take " an airing" as far as Gondicha 
Hour, or god's country-house, a mile and a half 
distant : "the cars are dragged by Kattabethias, or 
coolies, and by thousands of other people." ^ But ap- 
parently, it must be the peculiar duty and privilege o A 
these people to draw the cars. 

The images are placed in their respective positions 
by the Dytas, or charioteers of Juggernat'h. " The car 



158 RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES; CREEDS, ETC. 



of Juggernat'h is forty-five feet in height ; it has sixteen 
wheels of seven feet diameter, and a platform thirty-five 
feet square. The ruth of Bulbhudra is forty-four feet 
high ; it has fourteen wheels of six and a half feet 
diameter, and a platform thirty-four feet square. The 
car of Subhudra is forty-two feet high ; it has twelve 
wheels of six feet diameter, and a platform thirty- 
three feet square. A small rail, about eight inches in 
height, nearly surrounds the platform of each ruth. 
An opening is left of a few feet in front of the" idol." 

" The entire scene of the Ruth Jatra savours, to an 
incredible extent, of the ludicrous, the barbarous, and 
the awful. The eager expectation, the unceasing din 
of a great multitude, the acclamations of " Victory to 
Juggernat'h! " which rend the ear, when the images 
are brought forth, in an erect posture, or rather roiled 
forth, by means of iron handles fastened in their backs, 
and exposed to the stupid gaze of the delighted 
people. 

"There you may picture to yourself Christianity 
shuddering; there, morality weeping. Momus is not 
to be found there — the God of Mirth has slunk away 
trembling; as for intellect, she slumbers in silence, 
awaiting the dawn of a better day. 

" The ponderous machines are set in motion • they 
creak while the creatures strain the cables in the midst 
of their joy and madness. There they are — 

4 All around, behind, before, 
With frantic shout, and deafening roar ; 
And the double double peals of the drum are there, 
And the startling burst of the trumpets blare ; 
And the gong, that seems, with its thunders dread, 
To astound the living, and waken the dead.' 

"But all their enthusiasm has soon subsided ; and on 
the termination of the festival, many of that once de- 
lighted multitude either retire to die, or reach their 



RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES; CREEDS; ETC. 161 



lars, the horsemen in the service of native chieftains 
and in the irregular cavalry of our own service; are 
Mahomedans. Especially in the centre and north- 
west of Hindostari; the mosque occurs as frequently 
as the Hindoo pagoda, and a lively hatred is cherished 
by the followers of the prophet towards the idolatrous 
disciples of Brahma. It is not; however, so strongly 
manifested in their intercourse with each other as to 
lead to any breaches of the peace. There is, perhaps, 
more real animosity between the sects of Mahomedan- 
ism, for each looks upon the other as an apostate, or the 
representative of a principle calculated to shake the 
consistency of the creed, and thia hostility is most 
powerfully manifested in some of the public ceremonies 
and processions; — the most remarkable of which is the 
Moliurrum. 

The annual celebration of the Mohuvrum in all large 
Mahomedan communities of the Sheah sect, thougii, 
strictly speaking, a fast of the most mournful kind; is 
accompanied by so much pomp and splendour, that 
strangers are at some loss to distinguish it from festi- 
vals of pure rejoicing. The Sheahs, who are settled 
in Hindostan; are in some degree obnoxious to the 
charge of introducing rites and ceremonies; almost 
bordering upon idolatry, in their devotion to the me- 
mory of the Imaums Hossein and Houssein. 

Imbibing a love of show, from long domestication 
with a people passionately attached to pageantry and 
spectacle, they have departed from the plainness and 
simplicity of the worship of their ancestors, and in the 
decorations of the tazees (mimic tombs), and the pro- 
cessions which accompany them to the place of sepul- 
ture, display their reverential regard for Ali and his 
sons in a manner which would be esteemed scandalous, 
T thus accompanied, in Persia and Arabia, where the 
grief of the Sheah is more quietly and soberly mani- 
fested. 

M 



162 RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES, CREEDS, ETC. 

Several processions take place during the celebration 
of the Mohurrum. At Lucknow, on the fifth day, the 
banners are carried to a celebrated shrine or durgah in 
the neighbourhood to be consecrated, it being supposed 
that the standard of Hossein, miraculously pointed out 
to a devout believer, is preserved at this place. The 
veneration in which this sacred relic is held, nearly 
equalling that which in some places in Europe is dis- 
played towards pieces of the true cross, affords another 
proof of the corruption of the Mahomedan religion by 
the Sheah sect of India. The durgah at Lucknow is 
not only visited at the commemoration of Hossein's 
obsequies, but prayers and oblations are offered in its 
holy precincts upon recovery from illness, or any other 
occasion which calls for praise and thanksgiving. 

The gifts deposited at the durgah, consisting of 
money, clothes, and other valuable articles, become the 
property of the officiating priest, who is expected to 
disburse the greater portion in charity. All the 
Moslem inhabitants of Lucknow are anxious to con- 
secrate the banners employed at the Mohurrum, by 
having them touched by the sacred relic 5 and for this 
purpose, they are conveyed to the shrine with as much 
pomp and ceremony as the circumstances of the pro- 
prietors will admit A rich man sends his banners 
upon elephants, surrounded by an armed guard, and 
accompanied by bands of music. The arms and ac- 
coutrements, representing those worn by Hossein, are 
carried in some of these processions; and one of the 
most important features is Dhull Dhull, the horse slain 
with his master on the fatal field of Kurbelah : his 
trappings are dyed with blood, and arrows are seen 
sticking in his sides. Multitudes of people form these 
processions, which frequently stop while the moollahs 
recite the oft-told, but never-tiring story, or the tragic 
scene is enacted by young men expert at broadsword 
exercises; and as Hossein is surrounded and beaten 



BELIGIOUS CEREMONIES; "CREEDS, ETC. 163 

down, muskets are fired off, and shouts and beatings of 
the breast attest the sincerity with which his followers 
bewail his untimely end. On the seventh night of the 
Mohurrum ; the marriage of Hossein's daughter with 
her cousin, a faithful partizan of the house of Ali, is cele- 
brated with much pomp and show. The procession of 
the marriage of the unfortunate Cossim and his ill-fated 
bride is distinguished by trays bearing the wedding 
presents, and covered palankeens, supposed to convey 
the lady and her attendants ; the animals employed in 
the cavalcade, with the exception of the favoured 
Dhull Dhull; are left outside the walls ; but the trays 
containing sweetmeats, &c, a model of the tomb of 
Cossim, and the palankeen of the bride, are brought 
into the interior, and committed to the care of the 
keepers of the sanctuary until the last day, when they 
make a part of the final procession to the place of in- 
terment. 

The most extraordinary feature, however, in the 
commemoration of the deaths of Hossein and Hous- 
sein, is the participation of the Hindoos, who are 
frequently seen to vie with the disciples of Ali in their 
demonstrations of grief for the slaughter of his two 
martyred sons, and in the splendour of the pageant 
displayed at the anniversary of their fate. A very 
large proportion of Hindoos go into mourning during 
the ten days of the Mohurrum, clothing themselves in 
gTeen garments, and assuming the guise of fakeers. . 

The complaisance of the Hindoos is returned with 
interest at the Hooly, the Indian Saturnalia, in which 
the disciples of the prophet mingle with the heartiest 
good will, apparently too much delighted with the 
general license and frolic revelries of that strange 
carnival, to be withheld from joining it by horror of its 
heathen' origin. The ceremonials observed at the cele- 
bration of the Mohurrum are not confined to pro- 
cessions out of doors ; persons of wealth and respect- 



164 RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES, CREEDS, ETC. 

ability having an Imaum-barrah constructed in the 
interior of their own dwellings. This is usually a 
square building, containing a hall and other apart- 
ments, in which the mourning assemblages during the 
period of the festival are congregated. It is decorated 
for the time with all the splendour which the owners 
can afford. The tazee is placed upon the side facing 
Mecca, under a canopy of velvet or tissue richly em- 
broidered; and near it there is a pulpit, very hand- 
somely constructed of silver, ivory, ebony, or carved 
wood, having a flight of stairs covered with an expen- 
sive carpeting of broad cloth, velvet, or cloth of gold. 

Tbe tazee is lighted up by numerous wax candles; 
and near it are placed offerings of fruit and flowers, 
presented by pious ladies to do honour to the memory 
of the Imaums. 

t The remainder of the hall is fitted up with con- 
siderable splendour, furnished with mirrors, which re- 
flect the light from numerous lustres, lamps, and 
girandoles. Poorer persons are content with less glit- 
tering ornaments; and in all, an assemblage is held 
twice a day, that in the evening being the most im- 
posing and attractive. The guests are seated round 
the apartment ; the centre of which is occupied by a 
group of hired mourners, consisting of six or eight 
persons. 

: These men are usually of large stature, and of con- 
siderable muscular strength. They are very scantily 
clothed in a drapery of green cloth, their breasts and 
heads being perfectly uncovered. A moollah, or priest, 
selected on account of his superior elocution, ascends 
the pulpit, and proceeds to the recital of a portion of a 
poem in the Persian language, which contains a de- 
tailed account of the persecution and tragic fate of the 
Imaums. The composition is said to be very pure ; 
unci its effect upon the auditory is prodigious. 

After some well wrought passage, describing the 



RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES; CREEDS; ETC. 165 



sufferings of the unhappy princes ; the reader pauses, 
and immediately the mourners on the ground com- 
mence violently beating their breasts, and shouting 
"Hossein! Hossein!" until at length they sink ex- 
hausted on the ground amid the piercing cries and 
lamentations of the spectators. A part of each day's 
service consists of a chant in the Hindostanee lan- 
guage, in which the whole assembly join; and the 
Sheahs end it by standing up and cursing the usurp- 
ing Caliphs by name, devoting the memory of each 
offending individual to universal execration. The 
Soonnees hold these solemn assemblies; but their 
grief at the cruel sufferings of so many estimable 
members of the prophet's family does not assume so 
theatrical a character. Attired in the deepest mourn- 
ing, they evince the most profound sorrow • and it is 
persons of this persuasion who manifest the greatest 
indignation when there is any risk of their processions 
being crossed by the heathen revelries of the Hindoos. 

The pomps and ceremonies which precede it are 
nothing to the grandeur reserved for the display on the 
last day of the Mohurrum, when the tazees are borne 
to the place of interment. This pageant represents 
the military cavalcade of the battle of Kurbelah, 
together with the funeral procession of the young 
princes; and the wedding retinue of the bride and 
bridegroom divorced by death upon their nuptial 
day. The banners are carried in advance; the poles 
being usually surmounted by a crest, composed of an 
extended hand; which is emblematic of the five holy 
personages of the prophet's family, and a symbol par- 
ticularly designating the Sheah sect. Many make a 
declaration of their religious principles by holding up 
the hand; the Soonnee displays three fingers only, 
while the Sheah extends the whole five. The horse of 
Prince Hossein and his camp equipage appear fur- 
nished with all the attributes of sovereignty ; some of 



166 RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES^ CREEDS, ETC. 

the tazeesy of which there is a great variety, are ac- 
companied by a platform, on which three effigies are 
placed, — the ass Borak, the animal selected by Ma- 
homed to bear him on his ride to heaven, and two 
houries. The tomb of Cossim, the husband of Hossein's 
daughter, is honoured by being* carried under a canopy ; 
the bridal trays, palankeens, and other paraphernalia, 
accompany it, and the whole is profusely garlanded 
with flowers. 

These processions, followed by thousands of people, 
take the field at break of day ; but there are so many 
pauses for the reading of the poem dedicated to this 
portion of the history of the events of Kurbelah, and 
such numerous rehearsals of Hossein's dying scene, 
that it is night before the commencement of the inter- 
ment. Devout Mussulmans walk, on these occasions, 
with their heads and their feet bare, beating their 
breasts, and tearing their hair, and throwing ashes 
over their persons with all the vehemence of the most 
frantic grief; but many content themselves with a 
less inconvenient display of sorrow, leaving to hired 
mourners the task of inciting and inflaming the multi- 
tude by their lamentations and bewailments. 

The zeal and turbulence of the affliction of Alfs 
followers are particularly offensive to the Soonnees, 
who, professing to look upon Hossein and Houssein as 
holy and unfortunate members of the prophet's family, 
and to regret the circumstances which led to their un- 
timely end, are shocked by the almost idolatrous frenzy 
displayed by their less orthodox brethren; and the 
expression of this feeling often leads to serious dis- 
turbances, which break out on the burial of the tazees. 
Private quarrels between the sects are frequently re- 
served for adjustment to this period, when, under 
pretext of religious zeal, each party may make an 
assault upon his enemy without exposing the real 
ground of his enmity. In a few places which border 



RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES, CREEDS, ETC. 167 



the Ganges or Jumna, the tazees are thrown into tne 
river ; but generally there is a large piece of ground 
set apart for the purpose of the burial. It is rather a 
curious spectacle to see the tombs themselves consigned 
to earth, with the same ceremonies which would attend 
the inhumation of the bodies of deceased persons; the 
tazees are stripped of their ornaments, and when little 
is left except the bamboo frames, they are deposited m 
pits. This ceremony usually takes place by torchlight, 
the red glare of innumerable flambeaux adding con- 
siderably to the wild and picturesque effect of the 
scene. 

The followers of Mahomed have another annual 
festival called the Buckra Each, or goat sacrifice. 
Claiming to be descendants of Abraham, through his 
son Ishmael, whom they aver to have been chosen for 
the offering to the Almighty, and not Isaac, they cele- 
brate the event. It is commemorated by the sacrifice 
of particular animals: camels, sheep, goats, kids, or 
lambs, according to each person's means ; this is sup- 
posed to answer a double purpose, not only honouring 
the memory of Abraham and Ishmael, but the sacri- 
fices assisting in a time of great need. 

It is supposed that the entrance to Paradise is 
guarded by a bridge made of a scythe, or some in- 
strument equally sharp, and affording as unstable o 
footing. The followers of the Prophet are required ta 
skate or swim over this passage, and it will be attended 
with more or less difficulty, according to the degree of 
favour they have obtained in the sight of Heaven. 

The truly pious will be wafted over in safety, but 
the undeserving must struggle many times, and be 
often cut down in the attempt, before they can attain 
the opposite side. In this extremity, it is imagined 
that the same number and kind of animals, which 
being clean, and esteemed fitting for sacrifice, they 
have offered up at the celebration of the Buckra 



168 RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES; CREEDS; ETC. 

Hade, will be in waiting to convey them in safety 
along the perilous passage of the bridge. 

Under this belief, the richer classes of Mahom- 
edans supply their poorer brethren with goats and 
sheep for the sacrifice \ a work of charity, incited by 
the purest motives, and which, if not possessing all 
the efficacy ascribed to it, at least furnishes the poor 
man's home with an ample and a welcome feast ; for 
though poverty compels the lower classes of Mussul- 
mans to imitate the Hindoos in the frugality of a 
vegetable meal, they never refuse meat when it is pro- 
curable. 

The Bhearer is another annual Mahomedan fete. 
It takes place at night. It is instituted in honour of 
the escape of an ancient sovereign of Bengal from 
drowning ; who, as the tradition relates, being upset 
in a boat at night, would have perished, his attendants 
being unable to distinguish the spot where he struggled 
in the water, had it not been for a sudden illumination 
caused by a troop of beauteous maidens, who had 
simultaneously launched into the water a great num- 
ber of little boats, formed of cocoa-nuts, garlanded 
with flowers, and gleaming with a lamp, whose flicker- 
ing flame each viewed with anxious hopes of a happy 
augury. The followers of the king, aided by this 
seasonable diffusion of light, perceived their master 
just as he was nearly sinking, exhausted by vain 
efforts to reach the shore, and guiding a boat to his 
assistance, arrived in time to snatch him from a watery 
grave. This is the common, though not the universal 
interpretation of the origin of the festival. 

Whatever may have been the motive of its institu- 
tion, the scene which is exhibited on the occasion of its 
celebration is exceedingly beautiful. The banks of the 
Ganges are brilliantly lighted up on the evening of the 
festival, and numerous flights of rockets announce the 
approach of a floating palace, built upon a raft ; and 



KELIGIOUS CEREMONIES, CREEDS, ETC. 169 

preceded by thousands of small lamps, which cover the 
See of the water, each wreathed with a chaplet of 
flowers. The raft is of considerable extent, formed of 
Sam trees fastened together, and bearing a struc- 
which Titania herself might delight to inhabit. 
¥owerI, gates, and pagodas appear in fantastic array 
brio-ht with a thousand colours, and shining in the 
light of numberless glittering cressets. 



170 ARCHITECTURE; TEMPLES, ETC. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



ARCHITECTUEE, TEMPLES, MONUMENTAL 
REMAINS, &c. 

The cave-temples — The river-temples— The character of Hindoo 
sculpture — Futte hpore Sikri — Deeg — Secundra — Tomb of 
Hoomaioon— Agra— The Taj Mahal— Lucknow, dec. 

Were the grandeur of the native governments of India 
to be judged by the architectural remains which still 
decorate different parts of the country, a lofty impres- 
sion would be entertained of the early civilization of 
the Hindoo and Mahomedan rulers. From the south- 
ernmost points of the Peninsula to the vicinity of 
Delhi, majestic temples, gorgeous palaces, and splendid 
tombs, are still extant, in various stages of decay, 
each attesting a vastness of design and a^ delicacy of 
execution which scarcely find a parallel in the stu- 
pendous works still seen on the banks of the Nile, and 
in the vicinity of the Tigris and Euphrates. Ancient 
Egypt and Mesopotamia may have exceeded other 
countries in the dimensions of the abodes and the 
sepulchres of their kings, but they are fairly rivalled 
in India by the exquisite taste of the architects who 
flourished under the Mahomedan dynasties, or who 



ARCHITECTURE, TEMPLES; ETC- 



171 



embodied the conceptions of the founders of the Brah- 
minical system of worship. 

In Southern India, because more remote from the 
seats of Mahomedan government, Delhi, Lahore, Oude, 
&c. y the Hindoo temples are the main objects of attrac- 
tion. Some of them are of great height, covering two 
or three acres of land, and divided into an infinite 
number of apartments. 

But perhaps the most extraordinary specimens of 
Hindoo architecture are the cave-temples in Western 
India and the Deccan. Ellora, Ajunta, and Elephanta, 
are the most remarkable, and were probably con- 
structed because their freedom from external climatic 
influences, and their concealed positions, which re- 
duced the chances of their being despoiled by the 
bigots of other creeds, ensured to them a greater 
permanence. 

The cave- temples of Ellora — or Verrool, as the place is 
called by the natives — are situated about a mile from the 
ancient Mahomedan city of Dowlatabad. In magnitude 
and execution they excel every thing of the kind in 
India. They comprise several temples, and are filled 
with figures, some dedicated to Siva, and some to 
Boodh. As far as can be ascertained, these temples 
were constructed 2,500 years since, but the Brahmins 
assign to them a much more extravagant antiquity, 
going even 2,000 or 3,000 years higher than the date 
assigned by us, according to the Scriptures, to the 
creation of the world. 

The temples of Ajunta are by no means so extensive 
as those of Ellora, but they are exceedingly curious, 
and afford an excellent idea of the taste and talent of 
the Hindoo sculptors of the olden time. 

The other cave-temples are near the island of 
Bombay, on Salsette and Elephanta. 

The little island of Elephanta, the true name of 
which is Shapooree, derives the Portuguese appellation 



172 



ARCHITECTURE, TEMPLES, ETC. 



from a huge stone elephant, about three times as large 
as life, which stands in a field about a quarter of a mile 
to the right of the usual landing-place. The elephant 
is rudely sculptured, and is so much dilapidated by 
climate as to leave little beyond a rough outline of the 
animal it is intended to represent. From the landing- 
place a steep and narrow path leads up the hill, wind- 
ing prettily through woods and on the banks of pre- 
cipices for about three-quarters of a mile, when, after 
passing a ruined portico, supported by two pillars and 
two pilasters, we reach the entrance to the great cavern, 
magnificently situated for the prospect which it com- 
mands. The cave is excavated out of the solid rock, 
the roof being supported by pillars which once ex- 
hibited traces of beautiful carving and architectural 
taste. The form of the interior of the cave, which 
was evidently a temple dedicated to Siva, is that of a 
cross, and not unlike the plan of a basilica. 

At the upper end is an enormous bust, with three 
faces, looking in different directions, and reaching from 
the pavement to the ceiling. It was at one time sup- 
posed to represent the Trimurti, or Hindoo Trinity — 
Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva; but more recent dis- 
coveries have ascertained that Siva himself, to whose 
worship and adventures most of the other ornaments of 
the cave refer, is sometimes represented with three faces, 
so that the temple was evidently consecrated to him. 

In the interior of the continent, and more es- 
pecially in Upper and Central India, the pagodas and 
sculptured rocks are very numerous, and illustrative of 
the extensive character of the mythology of the 
Hindoos. At the confluence of rivers, on the summit 
of lofty hills, at the base of prodigious rocks in se- 
cluded places, the traveller constantly comes upon 
singular remains, attesting at once the vigorous con- 
ceptions and religious zeal of the statuaries. Near 
Oojein, in the province of Malwa, for instance, are some 



ARCHITECTURE; TEMPLES; ETC. 



173 



splendid vestiges of sculpture. At Oonierkantuck, in the 
province of Gondwana; at the source of the rivers Soane 
and Nerbudda, there is a temple said to have been built 
by one of the ancient rajahs of Butturpore, and to contain 
an image of Bhavani; under whose name the consort of 
Siva is worshipped in that part of the country. In 
Guzerat also are ruined temples, originally of great 
magnitude ; and from the source to the mouths of the 
Ganges are not less than 3,500 edifices of various 
dimensions consecrated to Gunga, the goddess of the 
river, and some of these date back two or three cen- 
turies, when the fervid zeal of the Hindoo defied the 
relentless persecution of the Mahomedan. Gunga is 
the personification of the sacred stream. The honour 
of giving birth to that goddess has been claimed for 
their deities both by the Shivas and Visbnaivas, the 
former alleging that she sprang from the locks of Siva 
— the latter that she issued from the foot of Vishnu. 
According to either, she came to restore to King 
Suguin the 60,000 sons whom the deity Brigu had 
caused his wife to have at one birth, and who, for 
some malpractices, had been reduced to ashes. In her 
passage towards the sea she was swallowed by a holy 
sage for disturbing him in his worship ; but by some 
channel or other she contrived to make her escape, 
and having divided herself into a hundred streams 
(now forming the Delta of the Ganges), reached the 
ocean, when, it is fabled, she descended into Palata to 
deliver the sons of Suguin. All castes of the Hindoos 
worship this goddess of their sacred stream. Clay 
images are set up in the temples to her honour. The 
waters of the river are highly reverenced, and are 
carried in compressed vessels to the remotest parts of 
the country, from whence also persons perform journeys 
of several months' duration to bathe in the river itself. 
By its waters the Hindoos swear in our courts of 
justice. A person, by either bathing in or seeing the 



174 ABCHITECTTJjRE, TEMPLES; ETC. 



river, may be as much benefited as if he had visited 
all the places of worship on its banks. For miles near 
any part of the banks of the sacred stream, thousands 
of Hindoos of all ages and descriptions pour down 
every night and morning to bathe in or look at it. 
Persons in their dying moments are carried to its 
banks to breathe their last, by which means the deaths 
of many are often accelerated ; and instances have been 
known wherein such events have thereby been actually 
produced. Several festivals are held during the year 
in honour of Gunga ; and then the bathing, especially 
at the junction of the main stream with a tributary, 
is universal. 

To return to the temples, some of singular form and 
character are erected on the rises of the Kistna river, 
near Mahabuleshwur, a range of hills in Western India ; 
and their situation is not less worthy of remark than 
their structure and materiel. Although knowing little 
of painting, and not much more of poetry, if we 
except their ancient lyric songs of Sanscrit origin, the 
Hindoos have yet an eye so true to nature (when not 
called upon to imitate it) that their temples are ever 
found commanding the most lovely and attractive 
views. At Mahabuleshwur, a fine arch, cut in one of 
the basaltic temples, permits the rich foliage of the 
mountains to be seen at its back, as well as the ex- 
quisite landscape that forms the foreground of the 
picture. / 

Of the temple of Juggernauth we have elsewhere 
spoken— in the chapter on religious ceremonies, &c.~ 
and for a minute scientific account of the character of 
Hindoo architecture, its stages, and most remarkable 
extant illustrations, the reader is referred to the elaborate 
and interesting work of the late Major Kitto, of the Ben- 
gal army, and the Journal of the Asiatic Society. The 
following unpublished observations upon Hindoo sculp- 
ture generally are deserving of attention for their truth 



ARCHITECTURE,, TEMPLES; ETC. 



175 



and origrsaEty. They are from the pen of a travelled 
officer of the Bengal Engineers of great taste and 
experience — ■ 

u The new city of Bujrungghur becomes visible 
after a passage of some ten miles of extremely wild 
and rugged road (on the way from Agra to Mhow in 
Malwa), and just at the point from which it appears, is 
a statue of Mata Devi, in high relief upon a stone 
placed upright on the left-hand side of the road. It 
has few of the horrible accompaniments peculiar to 
that fearful goddess, and is designed to represent a 
beautiful woman in an attitude calculated to display 
the figure, Though a little overstrained, it is the most 
spirited attempt I have seen of the Hindoo's chisel on 
this rough rock, and excepting the figures of Gopris 
(or nymphs), the most graceful. 

" In the features of the face, Hindoos always fail, 
therefore nothing is ever to be expected in that depart 
ment ; but in the more ancient of their sculptures, the 
figures are sometimes ably executed. 

"And here I cannot forbear remarking*, that the 
Hindoos bear an undue imputation of indecency in their 
religious sculpture. There can be no doubt that 
temples do exist wherein the most abominable repre- 
sentations abound \ the reports of travellers have testi- 
fied to this, and it is very possible, that in the peninsular 
countries, the taste may be more depraved than in 
Upper Hindostan. But I can affirm that in marching 
from Cawnpore to Agra, Meerut, Kurnaul, Simla, and 
thence through Delhi and Jypore, to Mhow in Malwa, 
and the banks of the Nerbudda, and from thence again 
through Oojyne hither, a distance of about 1,400 
miles, I have not met with even one obscene image, 
although I have lost no opportunity of inspecting 
works of art, of whatever nature, on the road ; I of 
course except the Phallus or Ling*am, the symbol of 
Mahadeo as god of nature, which is to be found in 



176 ARCHITECTURE, TEMPLES, ETC. 



every village and under every considerable tree in 
Malwa. And I consider that there are good grounds 
for this exception, and that to regard it as a proof of 
the pruriency of the Hindoo imagination is both unwise 
and uncharitable ; although doubtless its origin may 
be attributed to the most depraved taste in the ori- 
ginator. In the first place, it is so unlike that of 
which it is a symbol, that unless informed of its mean- 
ing, it would be impossible to conjecture it, nineteen 
out of twenty of these symbols being mere shapeless 
masses of rock placed upright under a bingut or 
peepul tree, and those which are chiselled being almost 
as unmeaning. And secondly, the habit of regarding 
it from infancy as a religious emblem must tend to 
prevent any connection with it of impure ideas. Add 
to this, that the notions and habits of natives of this 
country, whatever their rank, birth, or real modesty, 
are so utterly un softened by delicacy, according to our 
notion of that word, that not an expression, however 
literally coarse, in the compass of a language eloquent 
in a certain species of anatomy, is considered as too 
large, or too rude for the most gentle lips. And a 
woman, who would sacrifice herself to a most fearful 
death to escape a breach of chastity, would, in the 
innocence of her heart, utter expressions which would 
assure her the unrivalled sway of Billingsgate. This 
familiarity with all the arcana of European polish, 
however revolting, however objectionable upon other 
accounts, does certainly tend to rob of its dangerous 
tendency any symbol such as that under discussion. 
Nor can I doubt, while I reprobate the system o£ 
Lycurgus, which sought to destroy by familiarity the 
pruriency of the imagination, that it was so far a suc- 
cessful, though a most ungraceful expedient, and one 
that, by uprooting personal bashfulness, and with it all 
our dreams of female sacredness and reverence, and in 
rendering common what is chiefly desired as rare, had 



ARCHITECTURE; TEMPLES; ETC. 177 

a fatal tendency to divert the passions from their na- 
tural course, and beget an indifference in particulars 
wherein the most exclusive nicety should prevail." 

The architectural remains of the Mahomedans are 
not, of course, of the same antiquity as those of the 
Hindoos, and can hardly be said to have any connec- 
tion with religion. They consist chiefly of palaces, 
tombs, serais, and halls of justice. The greater por- 
tion are in Upper India. A few may be described : — 
Futtehpore Secree, lying about twenty-four miles from 
Agra, is celebrated for the mausoleum of Sheikh 
Saleem. The town, such as it is, stands upon the 
back of a narrow ridge of sandstone hills, rising 
abruptly from the alluvial plains, to the highest about 
150 feet,- and extends three miles north-north-east 
and south- south-west. The origin of the celebrity of 
the place is thus described by Colonel Sleeman. The 
Emperor Akbar's sons had all died in infancy, and 
he made a pilgrimage to the shrine of the celebrated 
Moin-od-deen, of Cheest, at Ajmere. He and his 
family went all the way on foot, at the rate of three 
coss, or four miles a day, a distance of about three 
hundred and fifty miles. Kunauts, or cloth walls, 
were raised on each side of the road, carpets spread 
over it, and high towers of burnt brick erected at 
every stage, to mark the places where he rested. On 
reaching the shrine, he made a supplication to the 
saint, who at night appeared to him m his sleep, 
and recommended him to go and entreat the inter- 
cession of a very holy old man, named Sheikh Saleem, 
who lived a secluded life upon the top of the little 
range of hills at Secree. He went, accordingly, and 
was assured by the old man, then ninety-six" years 
of age, that the Empress Jodh Baee, the daughter 
of a Hindoo prince, would be delivered of a son, who 
would live to a good old age. She was then pregnant, 
and remained in the vicinity of the old man's hermit- 



178 



ARCHITECTURE, TEMPLES, ETC. 



age till her confinement, which took place 31st August 
1569. The infant was called after the hermit, Mirza 
Saleem, and became in time Emperor of Hindostan, 
under the name of Jehangeer. It was to this Em- 
peror Jehangeer, that Sir Thomas Roe, the am- 
bassador, was sent from the English court. Akbar, 
in order to secure to himself, his family, and his 
people, the advantage of the continued intercessions of 
so holy a man, took up his residence at Secree, and: 
covered the hill with magnificent buildings for himself, 
his courtiers, and his public establishments. The quad- 
rangle, which contains a mosque on the west side, and 
the tomb of the old hermit in the centre, is perhaps one 
of the finest in the world. It is 575 feet square, and 
surrounded by a high wall, with a magnificent cloister 
all around within. On the outside is a magnificent 
gateway, at the top of a noble flight of steps, twenty- 
four feet high. The whole gateway is one hundred 
and twenty feet in height, and the same in breadth, 
and presents beyond the wall five sides of an octagon, 
of which the front face is eighty feet wide. The arch 
in the centre of this space is sixty feet high by forty 
wide. The gateway is extremely grand and beautiful, 
composed of red sandstone, with inlaid decorations of 
marble ; but the beholder is struck with the dispro- 
portion between the thing wanted and the thing pro- 
vided. There seems to be something quite prepos- 
terous in forming so enormous an entrance for a poor 
diminutive man to walk through ; and walk he must 
unless he is carried through on men's shoulders ; for 
neither elephant, horse, nor bullock, could ascend the 
flight of steps. "In all these places the staircases, 
on the contrary, are as disproportionately small. They 
look as if they were made for rats to crawl through, 
while the gateways seem as if they were made for ships 
to sail under." The tomb of Sheikh Saleem, the 
hermit, is a very beautiful little building, in the centre 



ARCHITECTURE, TEMPLES, ETC. 



179 



of the quadrang-le. It once boasted a great deal of 
mosaic ornament, but the Jats, when they reigned, 
removed it all. 

At Deeg is a noble quadrangular garden, con- 
structed by the Jats during their ascendancy. It is 
475 feet long by 350 feet wide; and in the centre is 
an octagonal pond, with openings on four sides leading 
up to four buildings, which stand in the centre of each 
face of the garden. These buildings are justly ac- 
counted the most beautiful Hindoo edifices for accom- 
modation ever erected. They are formed of a very fine 
ground sandstone, brought from the quarries of Roop- 
bas, which are eight or ten miles south-west of Futteh- 
pore Sikree. These stones are brought in in flags, 
some sixteen feet long-, from two to three feet wide, 
and one thick, all sides as flat as glass, the flags 
being of the natural thickness of the strata. The 
openings spoken of above have, from the centre of 
the pond to the foot of the flight of steps leading* 
from them, an avenue of jets d'eau. 

At Secundra, a few miles from Agra, is the mag- 
nificent tomb of Acbar. It stands in a square area of 
about forty English acres enclosed by an embattled 
wall, with octagonal towers at the angles, surmounted 
by open pavilions, and four very noble gateways of red 
granite, the principal of which is inlaid with marble, 
and has four high marble minarets. The space within 
is planted with trees and divided into green alleys, 
leading to the central building, which is a sort of solid 
pyramid, surrounded externally with cloisters, galleries, 
and domes, diminishing gradually on ascending it, till 
it ends in a square platform of white marble, sur- 
rounded by most elaborate lattice work of the same 
material, in the circle of which is a small altar tomb, 
also of white marble, carved with a delicacy and 
beauty which do full justice to the material and to the 
graceful forms of Arabic characters which form its 



180 ARCHITECTURE, TEMPLES, ETC. 



chief ornament. At the bottom of the building-/ in a 
small but very lofty vault, is the real tomb of this 
great monarch; plain and unadorned, but also of white 
marble. 

Delhi contains in its immediate neighbourhood some 
beautiful mosques and other edifices in good preserva- 
tion. There is the Jumma Musjeed, the mausoleum of 
Hoomaioon, and the Kootub Minar. The latter is a 
lofty pillar or minaret, deriving its appellation from 
Kootuboodeen (the pole star of religion), who under the 
Emperor Mahomed Ghori became a mighty general, 
and ultimately achieved the throne, and was the first 
of the Patan or Affghan sovereigns. The circumfer- 
ence of the pillar measures 143 feet, and its height 
was formerly between 200 and 300 feet, but the upper 
part being struck by lightning and destroyed, it now 
only reaches about 110 feet. 

The tomb of Hoomaioon, about six miles from Delhi, 
through masses of ruins, is a noble building of granite 
inlaid with marble, and in a very chaste and simple 
style of Gothic architecture. It is surrounded by a 
large garden, with terraces and fountains, all now gone 
to decay. The garden itself is surrounded by an em- 
battled wall with towers or minarets, four gateways 
and a cloister within, all the way round. In the 
centre of the square is a platform of about twenty feet 
high and about two hundred feet square, supported 
also by cloisters, and ascended by four flights of granite 
steps. Above rises the tomb, also a square, with a 
great dome of white marble in its centre. The apart- 
ments within are a circular room, in the centre of 
which lies, under a small raised slab, the unfortunate 
prince to whose memory the fine building is raised. 
In the angles are smaller apartments where other 
branches of his family are interred. 

The Jumma Musjeed, or principal mosque of Delhi, 
is a superb building in excellent repair. It is elevated 



ARCHITECTURE, TEMPLES, ETC. 181 



very advantageously on a small rocky eminence to at 
least the height of the surrounding houses. In front 
it has a large square court, surrounded by a cloister 
open on both sides, and commanding a view of the 
whole city, which is entered by three gates, with a 
fine flight of steps to each. In the centre is a great 
marble reservoir of water, with some small fountains, 
supplied by machinery from the canal. The whole 
court is paved with granite inlaid with marble. On its 
west side, and rising up another flight of steps, is the 
mosque itself, which is entered by three noble Gothic 
arches surmounted by three domes of white marble. 
It has at each end a very tall minaret. The size, the 
solidity, and the rich materials of this building, place 
it nearly at the head of all the specimens of Mahomedan 
architecture now extant. 

But unquestionably the most beautiful monument in 
Hindostan is the Taj Mehal, erected near the city of 
Agra. It is a magnificent tomb, constructed at the 
instance of the Mogul Emperor, Shah Jehan, in com- 
memoration of his beautiful queen, Noor J ehan, the Light 
of the World. The building was designed by Austin de 
Bordeux, a Frenchman of great talent and merit, in 
whom the emperor placed gTeat reliance. It cost 
3,174,802/., and occupied 20,000 labourers and archi- 
tects for twenty-two years. The building stands upon 
the north side of a large quadrangle, looking down 
into the clear blue stream of the river Jumna, while 
the other three sides are enclosed with a high wall of 
red sandstone. The entrance to this quadrangle is 
through a magnificent gateway in the south side, op- 
posite the tomb ; and on the other two sides are very 
beautiful mosques, facing inwards, and corresponding 
exactly with each other in size, design, and execution* 
That on the left, or west side is the only one that can 
be used as a place of worship, because the faces of the 
congregation, and those of *all Mahomedans, at their 



182 ARCHITECTURE, TEMPLES, ETC. 



prayers, must be turned to the tomb of their prophet 
— to the west. The mosque on the east side was 
therefore, built merely as a companion to the other. 
The whole area is laid out in square parterres, planted 
with flowers and shrubs in the centre, chiefly the 
cypress, all round the borders, forming an avenue to 
every road. These roads, or paths, are all paved with 
slabs of freestone, and have, running along the centre, 
a basin, with a row of jets' d'eau in the middle, from 
one extremity to the other. The quadrangle is from 
east to west 964 feet, and from north to south 329. 
The mausoleum itself, the terrace upon which it stands, 
and the minarets, are all formed of the finest white 
marble, inlaid with precious stones. The wall around 
the quadrangle, including the river face of the terrace, 
is made of red sandstone, with cupolas and pillars of 
the same white marble. The inside of the mosques and 
apartments in and upon the walls are all lined with 
marble or with stone-work that looks like marble ; but 
on the outside the red sandstone resembles uncovered 
bricks. The dazzling white marble of the mausoleum was 
brought from the Jeypore territories, a distance of 300 
miles, upon wheeled carriages. What was figuratively 
said of Augustus may be literally said of Shah Jehan : 
he found cities all brick, and left them all marble. The 
emperor and his queen lie buried side by side in a 
vault beneath the building, to which access is obtained 
by a flight of steps. Their remains are covered by 
two slabs of marble, and directly over these slabs, upon 
the floor above, in the great centre room under the 
dome, stand two other slabs, or cenotaphs, of the same 
marble, exquisitely worked in mosaic. Upon that of 
the queen, amid wreaths of flowers, are worked in 
black letters, passages from the Koran. Upon the slab 
over the emperor there are none : merely a mosaic wall 
of flowers and the date of his death. 

The cause of the difference is, that Shah Jehan had 



ARCHITECTURE, TEMPLES, ETC. 183 



himself designed the slab over his wife, and saw no 
harm in inscribing* the words of God upon it ; whereas, 
the slab over himself was designed by his more pious 
son, Aurungzebe, who did not think it right to place 
there " holy words " upon a stone which the foot of 
man might some day touch. 

Noor°Jehan, the Light of the World, or, as the in- 
scription on her tomb calls her, Ranoo Begum, the 
ornament of the palace, died in 1631 ; her husband in 
1666. She died in giving birth to a daughter, and on 
her death-bed made two requests; first, that Shah 
Jehan would not marry again after her death, and get 
children to contend with hers for his favour and do- 
minions ; and secondly, that he would build for her 
the tomb with which he had promised to perpetuate 
her name. 

Both her dying requests were granted. Her tomb 
was commenced upon immediately. No woman ever 
pretended to supply her place in the palace, nor had 
Shah Jehan children by any other. 

The city of Lucknow, the capital of the kingdom of 
Oude, contains a great many noble specimens of archi- 
tecture, the most striking of which are the tombs of 
Nabob Saadut Ali, the gate of Bouni (Constantinople), 
and the Imambarra, or cathedral. This last grand 
mosque consists of two courts rising with a steep 
ascent, one above the other. It contains besides the 
mosque a college for instruction in Mussulman law, 
apartments for the religious establishment maintained 
there, and a noble gallery, in the midst of which, under 
a brilliant tabernacle of silver, cut glass, and precious 
stones, lie buried the remains of its founder Asuph ad 
Dowlah. The whole is in a very noble style of eastern 
Gothic, and is remarkable for richness and variety, as 
well as for the proportions and general good taste of its 
principal features. 

At the city of Benares, the holy city of the Hindoos, 



184 ARCHITECTURE, TEMPLES, ETC. 

and at Ajmere in central India, are some beautiful 
specimens of architecture, especially at the latter, 
where there is a tomb to the memory of a celebrated 
Mahomedan saint, one Sheik Kajah Mooadeen. Thou- 
sands of Mussulmans make pilgrimages to this tomb to 
implore the blessing of male offspring. It is of white 
marble inlaid with gold and silver. A similar tomb is 
found at Currah, between Allahabad and Cawnpore. 
It was erected to the memory of one Camaul Sheikh. 
The architecture is grave and solemn, consisting of a 
square tower pierced on each front with elegantly 
formed and carved Gothic doorways, and surmounted 
with a dome of a very judicious form, and harmonizing 
with the general character of the building, not being 
semicircular, but conical, and in the form of a Gothic 
arch. Besides this large chapel are many raised 
tombs, to the memory of the sons and disciples of 
Camaul Sheik, who appears to have been a person of 
great sanctity. 

Briefly, India abounds with monumental remains, 
and when all that England has accomplished, in the 
architectural way, shall have crumbled to the dust, th6 
majestic works raised three or four or more centuries 
ago, by Hindoos and Mussulmans, will survive to attest 
the sublimity of their conceptions; and the munificence 
of their expenditure. 



THE CHIEF TOWNS OF INDIA. 185 



CHAPTER XIV. 



THE CHIEF TOWNS OF INDIA. 

Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay— Delhi— The Great Mogul— 
Agra — Lucknow — Benares — Hyderabad 

Presuming that the reader of these pages is destined 
for one or other of the three great presidencies, it is 
not impossible that a slight sketch of the characteris- 
tics of each of the great towns will be acceptable. ^ 

Calcutta, as the metropolis of British India, is by 
far the largest and most populous of the towns. It 
stands upon the left bank of the river Hooghly. The 
approaches to it, between the rich and and well-wooded 
banks of a winding river, are extremely picturesque, 
entirely shading the town from view, until the vessel 
which is bound for Calcutta is within a quarter of a 
mile from its anchorage. Here the whole splendour of 
the town at once bursts upon the view. The Govern- 
ment House with its vast dome and ornamental gates, 
the churches with their lofty spires, the public offices 
and enormous private dwellings, all faced with white 
stucco, relieved by green Venetians, the handsome 
ghauts, or landing places, the suspension bridge over a 



186 



THE CHIEF TOWNS OF INDIA. 



rivulet which encircles the town, the ramparts of Fort 
William bristling* with guns, the tall column erected to 
the memory of Sir David Ochterlony— all serve to im- 
press the spectator with exalted notions of the magni- 
ficence of the City of Palaces— an impression which 
a closer inspection and greater familiarity serves to 
dissipate. Before, however, Calcutta is seen, we pass 
between the magnificent gardens of spacious suburban 
villas, not unlike some of the handsome residences 
which fringe the Thames, in the vicinity of Richmond 
and Thames Ditton. These are, for the most part, on 
the left bank of the river, but on its opposite stands 
the Botanical Garden of the East India Company, 
adorned with many of the finest tropical productions- 
trees of stupendous altitude, and a banian tree, whose 
shadowing branches extend over two or three acres of 
ground. Here also is Bishop's College, an elegant 
Gothic structure of a quadrangular form, like most of 
the buildings of the same character in Oxford and 
Cambridge, but not joined at the angles, the southern 
side of the square being also open to the river, thus 
exhibiting the buildings of the northern side as the 
most conspicuous objects from the opposite bank. The 
north side of the building is composed of a central 
tower, which is in height sixty-five feet— in depth, 
from north to south, twenty-five feet. The right, or 
western, side of this tower is occupied by a building of 
equal depth, but whose height is but forty feet, and its 
length, from east to west, sixty feet— the ground floor 
of which is the hall. The upper floor is the library of 
the college. The left, or eastern, side of the central 
tower, is occupied by the chapel, a building of the same 
dimensions with the preceding, but in every other 
respect altogether dissimilar : being, of course, a single 
compartment, with an arched roof, in its exterior figure 
and decorations approaching to a miniature resemblance 
of that superb structure, King's College Chapel, in 



THE CHIEF TOWNS OF INDIA. 



187 



Cambridge. The ground floor of the central towei 
forms an entrance both to the chapel and the hall 
The first floor is the vestibule of the library. The two 
wino-s, extending from north to south, to the length of 
150°feet (equal to that of the northern side described 
above), are allotted to the residence of professors, 
pupils, and domiciliaries. The edifice cost above 

18 The°tollege is founded for a principal and two other 
professors from the English Universities, and as many 
students as can be maintained, either on the proper 
foundation of the incorporated society, or on the en- 
dowment of any other religious society ot the Esta- 
blished Church, or of the local governments, or indi- 
viduals. The students are educated either as mission- 
aries for the extension of Christianity in its present 
form, and in the mode of ancient discipline and order 
which is alone recognised by the Church of England, 
or as schoolmasters for the dissemination of general 
and useful knowledge. , 
Landing at Calcutta, we find that between the fort 
and the town, immediately opposite the anchorage, is 
an extensive plain, called, a Maidaun, along one side ot 
which runs an aqueduct, and on three sides ot it a 
handsome broad road, which of an evening; is crowded 
with vehicles of all descriptions, and innumerable 
equestrians. We now have an opportunity of inspect- 
ing the principal buildings. These consist of the 1 own 
Hall, a spacious edifice wherein public meetings are 
held, balls and public dinners given; the Sudder l)e- 
wanee Adawlut, or principal Court of Justice, the 
Supreme Court, the Bengal Club, the principal market, 
the Racket Court, the oftices of the Adjutant and 
Quarter-Master-General, and several private dwellings. 
At the southern extremity of the eastern range ot 
buildings stands the jail, and contiguous to it a large 
hospital, and the race-stand— for where the Maidaun 



188 



THE CHIEF TOWNS OF INDIA. 



terminates the race-course begins. Near to this spot 
also rises St. Paul's Cathedral. 

This beautiful structure, a monument of the Christian 
piety and zeal of the Eight Rev. Dr. Wilson, Bishop 
of Calcutta, was eight years in course of erection. 

The first stone was laid on the 8th October, 1839. 
The funds were obtained by the Bishop, either by sub- 
scription, or from his own private purse.; the entire 
expense being about 50,000Z. 

Her Majesty the Queen, at an audience granted to 
the Bishop when last in England, was pleased to ap- 
prove highly of the ground plan and elevation of the 
cathedral, and to present a superb set of silver gilt 
plate for the service of the Holy Communion. Her 
Majesty had previously condescended to sanction the 
gift of the painting of the Crucifixion, by West and 
Forrest (originally designed for St. George's Chapel, 
Windsor, in 1787, by his late Majesty King- George 
the Third), to St. Paul's Cathedral. The centre part 
of this picture now adorns the great eastern window of 
the choir. 

His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury convened 
a meeting at the Palace, Lambeth, in March, 1840, 
for opening a subscription in aid of the design, which 
his Grace honoured with his own subscription of 200?. 

The Hon. East India Company made a grant of 
15,000Z. in February, 1840, besides the gift of the site, 
and the appointment of two Chaplains. 

The University of Oxford presented books for the 
Cathedral library to the value of 200Z., and also 300Z. 
in money. 

The Venerable Incorporated Society for Propagating 
the Gospel in Foreign Parts, made a grant of nearly 
half a lakh of rupees for founding* a Native Canonry. 

The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge 
presented 5,000Z. and a superb folio Bible and Prayer- 
book. 



THE CHIEF TOWNS OF INDIA. 189 



The British and Foreign Bible Society gave twelve 
beautifully bound large quarto Bibles. 

A relative of the late Rev. John Natt, of St. John's 
College, Oxford, and Vicar of St. Sepulchre's, London, 
contributed 4,000Z. to the Endowment Fund, and 750?. 
for a Canon's residence. 

A lady of North Wales presented 1,0007. 

The Rev. Mr. Craig, of Leamington, presented a 
Lectern, in the form of a brazen eagle, with expanded 
wings, after the model of those in the cathedrals at home. 

Mr. Llewellyn, late of Calcutta, presented an ala- 
baster model of the Cathedral, executed in Italy, five 
feet in length by two feet in height, which the BisliGp 
has given to the University of Oxford, and which is 
deposited on a suitable base in the Picture Gallery of 
the Bodleian Library. 

Captain Kittoe provided a most handsome stone font, 
eight and a half feet each way at the base. 

The cathedral of Calcutta will gradually become a 
native or mission church, for service in the vernacular 
languages. The mission has begun wisely and cau- 
tiously ; and is intended to be of a peculiarly learned 
and staid character, as connected immediately with the 
bishop and clergy of the cathedral. 

There is no doubt that it will be a kind of guardian 
to the other missions in our Church in the diocese, 
tending to animate what is good in them, and to 
check anything approaching to what is unsuitable or 
injudicious. 

The style of the architecture is the English perpen- 
dicular Gothic, with a few variations, occasioned by 
the climate 5 it is, in fact, Indo, or Christian Gothic. 
The tower and spire are built after the model of the 
admired Norwich Cathedral, with improvements sug- 
gested by that of Canterbury. Most of the details of 
the ornaments, externally and internally, are taken 
from the finest specimens of York Minster 



190 THE CHIEF TOWNS OE INDIA. 



The building is constructed of a peculiar kind of 
brick, specially prepared for the purpose. It is dressed 
with Chunar stone, and well covered and ornamented 
inside and out with chunam y which takes a polish like 
marble. 

The sacred edifice was consecrated on Friday, Oc- 
tober 8, 1847, being the anniversary of the day when 
the first stone was deposited in 1839. 

The whole edifice is not larger than many of the 
fine old parish churches in England, as Saffron Walden, 
Halifax, Southwell, Manchester ; but it is as large as 
the necessity of the case requires. And a district or 
parish church having been urgently wanted for twenty- 
five years, it has been merely distributed in all its 
parts so as to meet the special purposes of a cathedral, 
and it is furnished and fitted up with that end in 
view. 

Turning back and proceeding into the interior of the 
town, in a northerly and easterly direction, we find 
many stately buildings, all announcing either the com- 
mercial importance of Calcutta, or the ample means of 
the inhabitants, the liberal spirit which has contributed 
to the foundation of public institutions, or the toler- 
ance which prevails in religious matters. There is the 
Metcalfe Hall, a splendid edifice, raised in memory of 
Lord Metcalfe, who, as acting Governor- General, 
crowned a long and brilliant career of usefulness and 
honour, by giving freedom to the press of India. In 
this hall, is an extensive public library, the museum 
and library of the Asiatic Society, and the offices and 
rooms of the Agricultural Society. Then there are 
Writers' Buildings, a long range of chambers, in front 
of which is a spacious tank called the Loll Diggie, 
fringed with trees, the Custom House, the Mint, a 
building of classical form and of great extent, boast- 
ing a machinery corresponding with that of the Eoyal 
Mint on Tower-hill, London ; the Bank of Bengal ; the 



THE CHIEF TOWNS OP INDIA. 101 

extensive premises of the auctioneers ; Protestant and 
Koman Catholic churches, Mahomedan mosques and 
Hindoo pagodas ; a Jesuit's College, once a handsome 
theatre; the Medical College, one of the finest architec! 
Jural ornaments of the city; the Hindoo and Madrissa 
(or Mahomedan) college; and a number of chapels 
omces, and masonic lodges. In the interior also we 
nnd large and commodious hotels, numerous shops 
as large as the largest in Regent-street, especially the 
coachmakers booksellers, upholsterers, jewellers, and 
general shopkeepers. All these, intermingled with pri- 
vate dwellings, impart a grandeur to the town, which 
loses nothing of its importance in the activity of a 
thriving population of 250,000 persons. 

Calcutta is abundantly supplied with good water 
and excellent markets. It is* under the management 

Th\ nm ^V\u°^ mitte . B ' md boasts an active°police. 
Ine hea th of the town is much looked after, and if it 
were lighted with gas, no city in Europe would stand 
a comparison with the proud City of Palaces 

As the whole country around Calcutta is* perfectly 
level, there is little of beauty in the suburbs excepS 
upon the nver's banks. At a distance of twelve miles 
stand the handsome barracks of the Artillery, at Dum 
Dum. bixteen miles off, through a delicious park 
where the Governor- General has a residence, lie/fte 
Barrackpore cantonment, where there are e-enerally 
frjl sl VT mmtS 5 ll "tered. To these pltces, and 
to certain factories and villas within a circuit of twenty 
miles the denizens of Calcutta occasionally resort fi£ 
recreation and change of air, but the temptation to 
leave the town, in other respects, is very slio-ht. 
. + Ma ?RAs, the capital of the Presidency of that name 
is the town next in importance to Calcutta. It stands 

rtrad e e C r ma r del ^ * the «"pariS?rf 

tlie trade from Cape Comorin upwards. Fort St 

George, which stands immediately upon the shore. 



192 THE CHIEF TOWNS OF INDIA. 



contiguous to the town, protects the roadstead and the 
town. 

Landing at Madras is a service of danger. A tre- 
mendous surf rolls towards the shore, with so much 
force at certain seasons of the year, that if the greatest 
care^ were not taken by boatmen, their craft must 
inevitably be swamped. The passage between ships 
and the shore is effected in large barges called Mas- 
soollah boats, rowed by three or four pairs of oars. 
They have awnings for the purpose of enclosing pas- 
sengers, who sit deep in the boat. As the boat ap- 
proaches the land the boatmen watch the roll of the 
waves, and pulling as near to the shore as possible, 
leap out of the craft and drag it high and dry before 
the next breaker can assail it. There is a class of 
vessel called the catamaran, which consists merely of 
a log or two of wood, across which the boatman, if he 
may so be called, sits paddling himself to and fro. If 
lie is capsized, an event which never can happen to his 
primitive vessel, he immediately scrambles on to the 
catamaran again, and resumes his work. These men, 
wearing conical caps, are very useful in conveying notes 
and parcels to passengers, when communication by 
larger boats is impossible. 

The houses at Madras, standing upon the sea-shore, 
are of white and pale yellow stucco, with verandas and 
Venetian blinds. The absence of all shade is very 
striking, and to the eye at first offensive. The rest of 
the houses of the town, belonging to the gentry, stand 
in large compounds, scattered over a considerable ex- 
tent of ground, and mingled with gardens. Some of 
the roads, especially the Mount Eoad leading to St. 
Thomas's Mount, are broad and well kept, but cannot 
escape being exceedingly dusty in the dry season of 
the year. The Government House is handsome and 
has a banqueting-house attached, and here very large 
parties are given upon occasion. The Madras Club is, 



THE CHIEF TOWNS OF INDIA. 193 

ex- 



however, the most striking edifice. It is a very « 
tensive "building- designed for the accommodation of a 
great number of persons, under admirable regulations, 
and at a moderate expense. It has entirely superseded 
the necessity for hotels : such as are to be found here 
are small and miserably furnished and attended. A 
statue to Sir Thomas Munro, formerly Governor of 
Madras, and two statues in honour of the Marquis 
Gornwalhs, attract the attention of visitors 5 and those 
who are destined to remain at Madras, soon become 
interested m the great number of useful and charitable 
institutions with which the town abounds. Amono* 
these are the Madras College, the Medical Colleo? 
(which contains 120 pupils), the Orphan Asylum, the 
Mission, Charity and Free Schools, the Philanthropic 
and lemperance Associations, the Masonic Lodges, the 
Moneygar Choultry (a species of serai), the private 
seminaries, the institutions for the education of native 
females, &c. The churches are numerous at Madras, 
several excellent newspapers are published, and there 
a*e large establishments or shops where everything 
that humanity, in its most civilized state, can reouire 
is to be liad for the money. Messrs. Pharaoh, Franck, 
and Ashton, will supply you with a paper of pins, a 
chandelier, or a steam-engine— a library of books, a not 
oi anchovies, and a carriage and pair. The prices' at 
which the productions of Europe are sold, are bv no 
means high, considering the expense of cannVe to 
India, warehousing, insurance, establishment, the in- 
terest j0 f money, &c. Very large fortunes are made 
m trade in Madras, and it is remarkable that, while 
Calcutta has experienced a great many vicissitudes, 
some of which have scattered ruin and desolation 
throughout society, the Madras houses of business, by 
a steadier system, have remained unscathed. 
lm Bombay comes third in order of importance, but it 
is a town of greater interest and activity than Madras, 



194 ME CHIEF TOWNS OF INDIA. 

and lias the advantage of a most picturesque and beau- 
Sul Suation. The harbour well deserves the appel- 
tjtul Ration, bestowed upon it of 

or " g od bay?' The island projects from 
rMaSar coast, with which it is connected by a 

x ~f lnnrl or causeway— now converted into a 
tongue of land 01 cause y ^ ft ^ 

native io\\n Europeans reside m the 

pictuiesque >e . g ft dub a ch urc h 

niangoes) BycuU^gn Breach 

and a race-stand^ bn ga ^ , g .. ^ 

SelfamS'S 

miles from the fort, standing on a slight elevation 
SSSft wK Bombay by a causeway, is the small 

founded ib ^™ dependencies— a college 

cated; a medical ^^X^ VMint, and 
Robert Grant; St ^^"^ ' and clas ; ical ed i- 
Town Hall, lhe latter i* * „ 1 Court are held, 
fice , where the sittings °f ^ Su f T^ ise tbe place 
and balls, concerts, &c, g £ en m ^the commit- 
22 ^^s me Kombay branch of 



THE CHIEF TOWNS OF INDIA. 195 

the Asiatic Society has an immense and well-chosen 
library and a museum; but books may also be ob- 
tained at the "Europe shops," where everything else 
is vended. The bazaars are not very handsome, but 
well supplied; there is a theatre, where amateurs oc- 
casionally act; enormous cotton screws, a spacious 
Hotel, commercial houses and offices upon a 2-rand 
scale and an infinite variety of places' of worship. 
lheKoman Catholic chapels and churches are more 
numerous here than in any other part of India, as the 
descendants of the early Portuguese visitors abound. 
Mosques and Hindoo temples are constantly found 
contiguous to each other, and here the Parsees-the 
descendants of the Guebres, or fire-worshippers, who 
lied from Mahometan persecution to India — have 
their augiaree, or fire temple, where the sacred fire 
is constantly kept up by the priests, who receive, from 
pious Parsees, through the grating which encloses the 
silver stove offerings in the form of sandal wood, 
lnere are few statues in Bombay, but the churches 
contain handsome monuments, and there are some 
busts and pictures in the Town Hall and the rooms of 
the .Societies and Institutions. 

There is probably no place in the world which con- 
tains such a motley population as the town and island 
ot Bombay, fetrolling, towards the evening, either on 
the esplanade, or in the vicinity of the Town Hall you 
may encounter Banians (pedlars and merchants), Per- 
sian and Arab horse-dealers, Parsees, descendants of 
the Guebres, Chinese, Portuguese, Armenians, Hindoo 
clerks, coolies Abyssinians, Europeans, infantry, ca- 
valry and artillery soldiers, &c. All live in perfect 
harmony, for all enjoy the benefit of the greatest tole- 
ration m the exercise of their several religions 

^Nor is the diversity of objects confined to the people 
wno perambulate the town. There is much variety in 
the vehicles in use. While the natives who art ia 



106 THE CHIEF TOWNS OF INDIA. 

good circumstances, move about in all sorts of queer 
carts and cars, the Europeans patronize buggies— a 
covered kind of gig— landaidettes, chariots, britzkas, 
and slirigampoes. The last named is a square carriage, 
something like a palankeen on wheels, and being sur- 
rounded by Venetian blinds, is a cool and agreeable 
means of locomotion. 

Of the towns in the interior the most remarkable are 
Delhi, Agra, Lucknow, Benares, Hyderabad, and 
Aimere. Dinapore, Cawnpore, Poona, Meerut, Ban- 
galore, Bellary, Belgaum, and similar places, owe 
their importance to the cantonments which form a 
considerable part of the towns themselves, and wnich 
are maintained by the towns. They consist, for the 
most part, of bungalows in compounds, bazaars, and 
places of worship ; those which are on the banks ot 
the Ganges having likewise warehouses and handsome 
ghauts. ° Patna and Mirzapore, on the Ganges, are 
also towns of some extent, where a considerable trade 
is carried on with the lower provinces of Bengal. At 
Patna are large opium godowns, for here the poppy is 
grown, and the opium extracted, forming a large article 
of export to China. The opium is the exclusive pro- 
perty of the Government, by whom it is sold to the 
merchants and brokers at public auctions. It has been 
the source of immense fortunes to many persons, and a 
fountain of trouble to the Government; for the attempt 
to force it upon the Chinese, resulted in an expensive 



war. 



Delhi, the ancient capital of the Emperors of H111- 
dostan, is still the residence of their lineal descendants. 
The " Great Mogul," however, with whose " effigies 
all card-players are more or less familiar, has long been 
entirely bereft of all political authority. He is now a 
mere pensioner; but the officers of Government oiler 
him all the external marks of courtesy pertaining 
to the regal office ; and when European or native 



THE CHIEF TOWNS OF INDIA. 



187 



strangers of distinction reach Delhi, they are expected 
to call and pay their respects to his Majesty, who 
ordinarily invests them with a « Ehillu t/' ' or robe of 
honour. A recent article in the Delhi Gazette gives 
the following account of his actual position : — 
_ " A few days since, the representative of the Royal 
House of Timour, the veritable Great Mogul of British 
history, and master of Hindostan, and the rest of the 
universe, according to traditions which were accepted 
as realities but a century since, celebrated at the Jumma 
Musjid (the principal mosque in Delhi) the solemn fes- 
tival which closes the fast of the Ramazan, JN T othin°- 
of regal pomp was wanting to keep up the semblance 
of kingship. Banners waved and guns thundered : 
and as the monarch's elephant passed slowly alono* the 
line of processiou, # military bands struck up in succes- 
sion, 6 God save the Queen/ while the English present 
uncovered their heads, and his Majesty, who never deigns 
to return a salute, reverentially counted his beads. But 
for the undisturbed presence of booted unbelievers in 
the galleries which surround the sacred edifice, and the 
reckless way in which a couple of sowars (horsemen) 
hustled the crowd right and left, to force a passage for 
a solitary and unarmed European, one might have fan- 
cied that the days of Aurungzebe had come back again, 
and the English were a handful of submissive traders, 
only too glad to purchase at any price the blessings of 
being allowed to wear their heads, and fill their 
pockets. 

" Bahader Shah is really a king; not merely by con- 
sent of the Honourable Company but actually created 
sucn by their peculiar letters patent. Lord Lake 
found the grandfather of the present sovereign an 
emperor in rags, powerless, eyeless, and wanting the 
means of sustaining existence. The firmans of the 
Padshah made the general an Indian noble ; the sword 
of the latter made the descendant of Tamerlane a 



198 THE CHIEF TOWNS OF INDIA. 

Company's king*, the least dignified, but the most 
secure of Eastern dominations. 

« In public and private, Bahader Shah receives the 
signs of homage which are considered to belong to 
his pre-eminent station. The representative of the 
Governor-General, when admitted to the honour of an 
audience, addresses him with folded hands in the atti- 
tude of supplication. He never receives letters, only 
'petitions/ and confers an exalted favour on the 
Government of British India by accepting; a monthly 
present of 80,000 rupees (8,000Z.). In return he 
tacitly sanctions all our acts; withdraws his royal 
approbation from each and all our native enemies, and 
fires salutes upon every occasion of a victory achieved 
by our troops. It would be impossible to find a royalty 
more courteously disposed, and as the treaties which 
bind us to him exist on durable parchment, and are not 
likely to be violated by his oriental majesty, it would 
apparently follow that, except at a monstrous sacrifice 
of good faith, the Mogul line will continue for ages 
to sway a nominal sceptre. Yet it is almost certain 
that his dynasty is on the verge of extinction. He 
is most probably the last of his race who will sit on a 
throne, and this, too, in spite of covenants and solemn 
obligations which were to endure as long as the sun 
and stars. .„ , 

« To sweep away the house of Tamerlane will not 
add the slightest tittle to the power enjoyed at this 
moment by the Company, Outside the walls of his 
palace the King of Delhi has no more authority than 
the meanest of his servants, but within that enclosure 
his will is fate, and there are twelve thousand persons 
who live subject to it. The universal voice of society 
ascribes to this population the habitual practice of 
crimes, of which the very existence is unknown in 
England, except to the few who form the core of the 
corrupt civilization of great cities. Its princes live 



THE CHIEF TOWNS OF INDIA. 



199 



without dignity, and its female aristocracy contrive to 
exist without honour. The intellectual qualifications 
of both sexes, with one or two exceptions, do not reach 
even the Mahomedan standard of merit — perhaps the 
lowest in the scale of modern humanity. 

" But it is not the condition or the morals of the 
inhabitants of the royal palace, nor the maintenance of 
an exclusive jurisdiction, that form the chief reasons 
why the kingdom of Delhi should be abolished. The 
latter belong to a class of topics with which the readers 
of Malthus and Poor Law Commissioners' reports are 
familiar. The royal family of Delhi consists of twelve 
hundred persons, with a sure prospect of further in- 
crease every month, and how is the East India Com- 
pany to support all this army of princes and princesses? 
As yet the hardship has only fallen upon the monarch, 
who has been obliged to divide and sub-divide his 
income, until there are princes who receive only 25 
rupees a month ! Let the honest democrats of London 
and Manchester try, if they can, to imagine the case 
of a king's son, nephew, or cousin, however far re- 
moved, living in a state of royalty on thirteen shillings 
and sixpence a week, constantly addressed as c Shah-i- 
Alum,' the King of the World, and feeling it neces- 
sary for his rank's sake, on choosing a wife, to settle on 
her a dowry of five lakhs of rupees ! 

" While this farce of a monarch is kept up, the 
* Sulateen ' continues to multiply within the royal 
residence, and to live on the royal bounty, their sole 
occupation being confined to playing on the sitar, and 
singing the king's verses. There is no employment 
for them in the service of the state, and they are vastly 
too proud to condescend to labour, even if qualified to 
undertake it, which, as matters stand, is entirely out of 
the question." 

Delhi has one or two broad and handsome streets, a 
number of handsome private residences, and an ex- 



200 



Tim CHIEF TOWNS OF INDIA. 



tensive cantonment for troops. But the main attrac- 
tions of the town consist in the mosques and minarets, 
which are spoken of in another chapter. 

Agra, Lucknow, and Hyderabad (the capital of the 
Nizam), are Mahomedan cities of a fine appearance, 
from the clusters of mosques and minarets, and other 
public buildings. 

Lucknow is however, more hybrid than the others, 
because many of the residences of the upper classes 
are built upon the principle of English villas. There 
is a park and a menagerie at Lucknow, and the 
Nawaub of Oude, who resides here, keeps up a 
sort of ragged royal state, which lends a picturesque 
variety to the streets. His elephants are numerous, 
and his guards gaily attired. Of the Imaumbarra and 
Roumi Durwaz — the two most remarkable public edi- 
fices — mention has already been made. 

Hyderabad is a very handsome town ; seen from a 
short distance, the rich variety of mosques, palaces, 
houses, and other edifices, interspersed with trees, give 
to the whole the character of a city built in the midst 
of an immense garden. The most prominent objects 
are the Great Mosque, the Palace of Twelve Gates, 
and the Chor Minar, or four minarets. The town is 
surrounded by a massive stone wall, sometimes 40 feet 
in length, and 10 feet in thickness. 

Benares is a remarkable city, more eastern in cha- 
racter than the general run of Hindoo towns. The 
streets are extremely narrow, only admitting of an 
elephant's passing, and the houses rise above the 
streets, as they do at Chester. The upper parts of 
the houses are embellished with verandas, galleries, 
and projecting oriel windows, with broad and over- 
hanging eaves, supported by carved brackets. The 
temples are very numerous, and stuck like shrines 
in the angles of the streets. The city is held in 
great sanctity by the Hindoos all over India. They 



THE CHIEF TOWNS OF INDIA. 



201 



call it, par excellence, the "Holy City;" and there 
is a saving virtue in a pilgrimage to the town, and 
the waters which flow past the ghauts. £ 
A°Ta, the capital of Akbar, stands on the left bank ot 
the Jumna, and is picturesque without being imposing. 
It is nearly four miles in length, and contains a noble 
road, eighty feet wide, descending to the nyer. The 
houses are chiefly built of red sandstone, which is pro- 
cured in great abundance from some hills to the south. 
Ao-ra abounds in noble ruins ; and the most beautiful 
edifice in the world, the Taj Mehal, stands close to the 
town. The fort of Agra is one of the grandest m India. 
It occupies a large space of ground on the banks of the 
river, and within its embattled walls of red granite 
stands the Motee Musjeed — a magnificent mosque. 
The remains of the palace attest the grandeur of its 
ancient occupants. 



202 



CEYLON, 



CHAPTER XV, 



CEYLON. 

Productions— Colombo — Trincomalee— Point de Galle—Kandy 
— Climate — Population, 

Although this beautiful island forms no part of 
India proper, and is not included in the possessions 
of the East India Company, it nevertheless deserves 
notice at our hands, from its importance and its situa- 
tion. 

Lying to the extreme south of the Indian Peninsula, 
it is 270 to 280 miles in length (N. to S.), and 140 
miles in breadth. The land contiguous to the sea is 
flat, varying from eight to thirty miles in breadth ; the 
interior of the country is mountainous. The former 
has long been the property of the English, the latter 
constituted the kingdom of Candy, but is now ruled 
by us. 

The vegetable productions of Ceylon are numerous 
and valuable. Besides the ordinary produce of tropical 
climates, no country in the world yields such a vast 
number of cocoa-nut trees, or such quantities of cin- 
namon and coffee. The Palmyra palm and the areca- 



CEYLON. 



203 



nut abound, and are celebrated for their superior qua- 
lities. The cocoa-nut trees, which form groves fringing 
the shores of the island, have been computed at twelve 
millions in number, yielding a revenue to the pos- 
sessors of nearly 40,000Z. per annum. Their fruit and 
milk are used as food, or for the expression of oil, and 
the husks of the fruit are converted into coir, which 
has become a large article of commerce, besides being 
much employed in the island. The cinnamon of . 
Ceylon, at one time, grew wild in the jungles, and was 
widely disseminated by the crows and wood-pigeons, 
who devoured the berries, just as coffee was propa- 
gated by the jackalls, and birds who ate the fruit. 
But within the past twenty years, both of these valu- 
able spices have been cultivated in extensive planta- 
tions which are private property. 

Ceylon was discovered by the Portuguese m 1506, 
who established a settlement at Colombo, to this hour 
the principal European town. In 1640 the town fell 
into the hands of the Dutch, who for their own pur- 
poses had joined the King of Candy in hostilities against 
the Portuguese. In 1796, when Holland, created a 
republic, had united herself with France in a war 
against the liberties of Europe, Colombo and other 
maritime provinces and towns were captured by the 
English, by whom they have since been retained. 

Colombo is prettily and advantageously situated on 
the sea-shore. It is protected by a fort, which stands 
on a peninsula projecting into the sea, and is very 
extensive, surrounded by a broad, deep ditch ; near the 
glacis is the end of a large lake, which extends some 
miles into the interior, and in the middle of the lake is 
an island called by the Dutch " Slave Island." _ The 
pettah, or native town, contiguous to the fort is ex- 
tensive and populous. There are not less than 60,000 
inhabitants of a mixed race, descendants of Dutch, 
Portuguese, and Kandyans. The town is handsome, 



204 



CEYLON. 



and nearly divided into four parts tyjr two broad 
streets. There are many Dutch houses, distinguishable 
from the English by their glass windows, instead of 
Venetians. Without the town are many European re- 
sidences, beautifully situated, especially near the sea. 
They are nearly all lower-roomed houses, with pro- 
jecting low-roofed verandas. The floors are of brick, 
which contributes to keep the houses cool, though 
much dust is engendered. Chunam, which in India 
forms so pleasant and serviceable a coating to the floors, 
cannot be made in Ceylon, excepting at great expense. 
It is composed of shells, the mere collection of which is 
attended with considerable cost. The Government- " 
house of Colombo, or " Queen's House," is handsome, 
and is situated in King-street. The other public 
buildings of consequence are — the light-house, 97 feet 
above the level of the sea ; the English church ; a 
library, well stocked with books of all kinds; the 
general post-office, the hospital, the museum, and the 
custom-house. The Supreme Court of Judicature, the 
magistrate's court, the churches of the Dutch, the 
Portuguese Protestants, the Roman Catholics, and 
the Malabar or Tamul church, are, with the Portu- 
guese, Wesleyan, and Baptist chapels, situated in 
the pettah or native town. Three English judges pre- 
side over the Supreme Court at Ceylon, and one of 
them is required by the charter to be always at Co- 
lombo. The magistrates of the district courts are 
subordinate to the Supreme Court, which receives 
appeals from their decisions, and the Governor of 
Ceylon has the power to reverse the sentence of the 
Supreme Court. 

The other tows of Ceylon are — Trincomalee, on the 
east coast, possessing a large and commanding har- 
bour capable of containing the whole navy of Great 
Britain ; Point de Galle, at the extremity of the south 
coast J affah, or J affnapatam, which lies on the north 



CEYLON. 



205 



of the island^ 219 miles from Colombo 5 and Kandy, or 
Sinhala, or Maha Nawara, the great city, which is 
situated near the centre of the island in an amphi- 
theatre formed by the surrounding hills, the highest 
of which is 3,192 feet above the level of the sea. 

Point de Galle has a fort, about a mile in circumfer- 
ence, which encloses the town. The houses in general 
are good and convenient, and the station, though hot, 
is healthy and agreeable. There is a Dutch church 
within, a chapel, and a Mahomedan mosque. The 
pettah is extensive, and is separated from the fort by 
the esplanade. Point de Galle is the port of arrival 
for the steamers from the Red Sea, which thence pro- 
ceed to Madras and Calcutta. Here also the screw 
steamers stop to coal on their way to the Australian 
colonies down the straits of Malacca. 

Trincomalee is enclosed in a fort, covering an extent 
of three miles. It has a citadel called Fort Ostenhurg, 
erected on a cliff that projects into the sea. There are 
a few good houses in the occupation of English, 
Dutch, and Portuguese, and several chapels, mosques, 
and temples. Jaffnapatam is a fortified town. The 
works are in the form of a pentagon, and contain bar- 
racks, a Dutch church, and a few good buildings. 

The town of Kandy, in the time of the kings, con- 
sisted of one street, about two miles in length, having 
a few narrow lanes branching out on both sides. None 
of the houses or huts were tiled or whitewashed, ex- 
cept those of the king and his ministers, and a few 
head men ; the rest being covered with cadjan matting, 
shingles, or thatch. Since its capture by the English, 
however, the town has been much improved \ many 
new and commodious houses have been erected ; new 
streets have been formed, the old ones widened, and 
all the houses in the town tiled. There is a pavilion, 
the residence of the Governor for about half a year, 
one of the handsomest buildings in the country. The 



206 CEYLON. 



Ws palace and the buildings connected with it ax e 
now used as government offices, and the former 1 all of 
audience has been converted into a court of justice. A 
miMic library, erected on pillars bud m a ake, is a 
E and commodious building well . supplied ^ 
books. In Kandy are numerous wiharas, temples, 
fi? Sis is the chief seat of Buddhism The principal 
+p™1c contains the " most sacred relic of Buddha s 
Se St" encased in a golden dagoba, set round 

Wi SSt*e several other small towns and villages 
scattered over the island, but they are thinly populated, 
and are not of any material account 

In the mountainous part of the interior, fifty ^mdes 
south-east of Kandy, is the settlement of Nuweia Eta 
the city of light. For a few months in the yeai tins 
is a deliohtful place of resort. No ram fal s m De- 
cembS lanuai,?, February, or March, the ^ urgg 
and healthy, the thermometer ranges at night beiow 
Ke f eeS- point, and in the daytime seldom rises 
S^heiTaS Lty-Wor ^#t R ^ 
W All kinds of European vegetables common m 
Sdenf z row at Nuwera Elia, and thrive abun- 
KJrtT It il found to be an excellent station for 
fnv Sid's The plain of Nuwera Elia is about four 
Ssln len-tli, and varies in breadth from half a mile 
^ n mile and a half. Roads have been made round 
L p£ and neat wooden bridges havebeen thrown 
across a small river that runs through the miacue 

° f The uonulation of Ceylon amounts to a quarter of a 
J& P gKwb of whom aj Sgg ^ 
ria-inal inhabitants, professing the Buddhist e i ion, 
L° which no distinction of caste is recog n ed. In 
general appearance they are S 00 ^ 00 !™^^ 
Sm-o-ht hlack eves and long black hair, which pe sons 
rftihWSn up benind and fasten in a knot, 



CEYLON. 



20? 



which, they call a candy. In the Kandian country 
distinctions of rank are rigidly observed by the natives, 
and a great many of the higher classes now hold im- 
portant and responsible posts under the British Go- 
vernment of the settlement. 

Two or three British regiments, and one composed 
of the natives (a rifle regiment), but officered by Eng- 
lishmen, constitute the protective force of the colony. 
The native soldiers are chiefly Malays and Caffres, and 
are in an excellent state of discipline. 

Ceylon abounds with minerals and precious stones, 
and is covered with magnificent and highly productive 
trees. The jungles and mountains are inhabited by 
elephants in vast numbers, whose teeth and tusks form 
an important article of commerce. Tame elephants 
are used for purposes of travelling in the interior. 
The chase of the wild elephant, though attended with 
some risk, is a favourite pastime with the European 
officers and others in Ceylon. A good shot, with a 
stout heart, will kill a sufficiency of elephants in the 
course of a year, to enable him to add to his income 
by the sale of the trophies. A Major Rogers, who for 
some years resided on the island, is computed to have 
slain 800 elephants in the course of his career. 

English education has been widely spread in Ceylon, 
and the gospel, under the active exertions and influ- 
ence of pious missionaries, is being rapidly propa- 
gated. 



THE ENDt 



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6 CHEAP EDITIONS OF STANDARD JUVENILE WORKS. 



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/CELEBRATED CHILDREN of all Ages and Nations. 
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Boyal Children, 
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Contents of the Volume :- 



Artist Children. 



Children celebrated for their Filial 

Affection. 
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Poet Children. 



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8 



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EVENINGS AT DONALDSON MANOK. Illustrated 
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TOUDON'S (Mrs.) YOUNG NATUKALIST'S 

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Ellen Leslie. 



History of my Pets. 
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My Awkward Cousin. 
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Charles Hamilton. 
Hubert Lee. 



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In 2 vols, crown 8vo, price 12s. cloth extra. 

HERLDAN KNOWLES'S DRAMATIC WORKS. Elegantly 

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Caius Gracchus. 
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Hunchback. 
The Wife. 



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Green. 
The Daughter. 
Love Chase. 
Woman's Wit. 
Maid of Mariendorpt. 



Love. 

John of Procida. 
Old Maids. 

The Rose of Arragon, 
and 

The Secretary. 



" The popularity of Sheridan Knowles's dramatic works w taring *-\, 

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fact, the most successful dramatist of the present dav and h L ii.vcT ' n 
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gOSWELL'S LIFE of DR. JOHNSON, with numerous 

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HE HISTORY of EXTRAORDINARY POPULAR 

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MRS. 

Price Is. 6d. each, 
Light and Darkness. 
Lilly Dawson. 



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Night Side of Nature. 



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Price 2s. 6d. cloth, 
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WORKS. 

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her works are all 



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Charms and Counter Charms. | Grace and Isabel. 

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W. 



CARLETON'S TRAITS 

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AND STORIES. 

Shane Fadle's 



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Poor Scholar, Wtldgoose Lodge, 
&c. 

The Hedge School, Party Fight, 
&c 

-Unless another master-hand like Carleton's should appear, it is to his ^pages 
and his alone, that,future generations must look for the truest .and J^^^ 
of the Irish peasantry, who will ere long have passed away from the troubled 
land and the records of history."— Edinburgh Review. 



V 




